Baristaville is blessed with many artists, and you can often see their work in various spots around town. If you’re looking to check out local artists’ work this summer, here are three spots to go now.
The New Jersey Emerging Artists Series at the Monmouth Museum will be presenting a photography exhibit of Montclair resident Alexa Garbarino from July 12 to August 11. The exhibit, “Better Days,” will show Garbarino’s painterly photographs–photos made to look like fine art paintings–of ranches and farms along the Northern California coastline that Garbarino documented during yearly trips as a child and now with her own family.
“I feel a kind of ownership to these structures as I literally grew up watching them thrive or fade over the years, photographing them along the way,” she explained. Garbarino will host an opening reception on July 12, 6-8 pm and a gallery talk on August 7 from 7-8 pm to discuss her work.
An exhibit by Natalie Lord, a self-taught local artist, will be shown on July 19 and July 20 at Montclair fashion boutique Born Again Vintage. “Bringing the Light” will showcase the art of Lord, who specializes in canvas paintings, from 6-9pm.
Parlor Hair Studio, which has ongoing exhibits, is now highlighting the work of artist David Keefe. Keefe, an adjunct art professor at MSU, is a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who served time in Iraq. Now he works as the East Coast director of Combat Paper, a program that integrates veterans back into society through art therapy by converting their military uniforms into paper.
Keefe says, “I strongly believe that the act of crating art is a way to study how humans functions in the world. I believe it is my duty to record this world, these multiple histories and witnessed events as I partake in and observe them.”
Do you have any other favorite local artists? Let us know in comments.
Thank you! I’m excited for my first exhibit in this area! Hope to see you there! (My avatar is one of my pieces).