Early Saturday Events, Protest Sunday

There are two cleanup-types of events in Newark tomorrow. One is a hazardous-waste disposal day. The other is a cleanup and gardening-education morning in Riverbank Park, in the Ironbound.
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I didn't get to the Essex County harardous-waste day I saw announced on the County's website for late April, but might make it to a Newark-only event tomorrow, which Bill Chappel, anti-MUA activist, alerted me to.

Saturday, May 1, 2010
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
City of Newark Recycling Depot
62 Frelinghuysen Avenue, Newark

City of Newark residents only. You must provide proof of residency at the site. Not open to commercial and large quantity users. For more information, call:

Newark Office of Recycling: 973-733-6683

I think there is waste motor oil inside this garbage can that was on the property when I bought my house. For some reason I didn't think to ask what is in the oil drum on the left, and still don't know. I should have had it removed before I took possession, unless it is some kind of extra fuel-oil container I could tap for emergencies. In any case, I'll check the garbage can that I can open. I also have some old computer equipment, but have to evaluate if it can be donated to schools or such as a better solution than just junk-recycling it.

ITEMS ACCEPTED

Aerosol spray paints
Automotive Fluids (motor oil, steering fluids, etc.)
Car batteries
Chemistry sets
Darkroom/Photographic chemicals
Driveway sealer
Fire extinguishers (home)
Fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts
Gasoline/Kerosene
Household batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, NiCad)
Household cleaning fluids
Oil based paints and stains
Paint thinners and solvents
Pool chemicals
Products containing mercury
Pesticides/Herbicides
Propane tanks (barbecue type)

Sacred Heart of Vailsburg, a major landmark that Sunday's protestors hope to keep open.

ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED

Asbestos
Commercial or industrial waste
Empty containers
Latex paint
Regulated medical or infectious waste
Explosives, munitions, ordinance or reactive materials
Unlabeled or Unidentified Materials

Foto showing full artistic relief on front of SHV. I have earlier shown a closer view that did not include the bottom of the relief.

Gardening in the Ironbound. Gaetano found this Riverbank Park event:

Ironbound Super Neighborhood Council
is sponsoring

Gardening Days at Riverbank Park

If you have skills in the garden or if you would like to learn some gardening skills, join us to clean up the park gardens and make them look better.
Let's help beautify our park!

Spring 2010 Schedule

Saturday, May 1st @ 9:00am-11:00am
Saturday, June 5th @ 9:00am-11:00am
Saturday, June 12th @ 9:00am-11:00am

For more information or to sign up contact:

Ivette Rosario
gardener[on]riverbankpark.org

Painted ceiling of Sacred Heart of Vailsburg, a church that, astoundingly, the Archdiocese wants to close down this July 1st.

Demonstrate Sunday to Save SHV! Members of the Sacred Heart of Vailsburg community will be marching outside that great church (Sanford Avenue and South Orange Avenue, a few blocks before Newark runs into South Orange), starting on the main stairs (SOA side) at 1pm Sunday. I don't know if there are to be speakers, or chants (other than perhaps a spontaneous "Save Sacred Heart! Save Sacred Heart!" If you have ideas for chants, please send them to blonddie130[on]yahoo.com (and say you saw this solicitation for suggestions).

Thrift Shop, Art Style; Solo Project #1: Clarence Rich

"Solo(s) Project House", a new art center in Downtown Newark, launches, this evening, an art-tinged thrift store called the "Soiled Projects Shop". "Soiled", tho a play on "Solo", seems a little grim.

Today's fotos are of the same arts cooperative's Solo Project #1, as seen on Art Walk 1 last Friday evening.

It is no secret that Newark is lacking good retail. We know our city is on the way to great things, but in the meantime having to hop over to another town to buy an outfit or a gift is not exactly ideal. The SOILED PROJECTS is your ultimate grunge, glamrock, art consignment boutique, specializing in clothing, accessories, shoes, and goods that totally rocked someone else’s world.

Grab a friend and join us from 4 pm - 8 pm for the SOILED PROJECTS grand opening. An evening filled with tons of amazing clothes & goods, food & cocktails.

SOILED PROJECTS Shop Grand Opening
Thursday, April 29, 2010
4 pm – 8 pm
Open to the Public
Free Spaghetti & Wine Dinner

My camera's autofocus failed me again, so I have shrunk this foto to try to make it as close to clear as I can.

Hours of Operation
Wednesday 12 pm – 7 pm
Thursday 12 pm – 7 pm
Friday 12 pm – 7 pm

The Solo(a) Project people define "soiled" as, among other things, "5. I think your mom wore that." I would thus not expect most of the clothes on offer to be more than tastefully retro.

Solo Project #1: OUTSIDE YOUR BOX

Clarence Rich, a street artist that for the last 13 years has not only made his mark on the street, but also has challenged the North Jersey gallery scene. His progressive work has inspired a younger generation of urban artists.

Rich describes his loose approach and technique as “letting his hand run wild.” His work is visually aggressive and conceptually deviant. With an incongruous palette of morose shapes, and sickly human-like characters he manufactures a world that is not yours or mine.

Solo Project #1, “Outside Your Box” specifically focuses on geometric material and forms that are both found and manufactured. These forms are aggregated to breathe the life of his original characters.

"Outside Your Box" is Riches concept that confronts the cliché. He dares the viewer to step outside their “box” and confronts them with a not so ordinary idea. He takes everyday life and tick tocks its foundation.

Detail of the work above.

The Solo(s) Project gallery is the same space used by Catfish Friday, the Newark women's art collective, twice in the past two years, on the first floor of an office building on Broad Street just south of the Rodino Federal Office Building (except that one small room that Catfish Friday displayed artworks in is not used for art display by the Solo(s) Project House. The term "Solo(s) Project House is a little offputting, but is actually fairly straightforward. Each exhibit in the main space is a solo show for a select artist. The lobby area allows another artist some space as well, but mainly the concept is that one artist gets the entire space to his or her works. This first show seems fairly unified as to theme.

I'm not clear where the "Soiled Projects" items will be offered for sale, nor whether the two concepts, art gallery and thrift shop, will coexist in a single space. I will be at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium with Gaetano, so will not be able to tell you, unless the game ends early, which seems unlikely. The ballgame starts no later than 7pm, and the Soiled Projects debut event ends at 8pm. Is it more annoying or heartening that you can't attend everything in the New Newark?

Willa Goldthwaite's artworks are in the areas approaching the main exhibition space.

I hate to miss a good spagetti dinner, and spaghetti is probably soft enuf for my fake teeth to handle. My sibs and I are of a mind that growing old is not for sissies. Steak and chops may be beyond the expectation for a cosmetic partial plate, but spaghetti? I think even handsome but fake acrylic can handle pasta.

For whatever reason, my camera did not capture the subtlety of color of Ms. Goldthwaite's works.

Both the Soiled Projects Shop and the Solo(s) Project House are located at 972 Broad Street, Newark NJ 07102; (973) 688-8979; email: solosprojecthouse@gmail.com.

WBGO's Flickr Page

I received email today from Brandy Wood, of the Marketing department of WBGO, who saw my post of last Wednesday about a then-upcoming event at BGO. She had not, however, seen my followup Thursday, showing pix of that event, so I told her about it, and said that tho I do have pix of the outside of WBGO's building, I don't have pix of the studio in operation. She replied that WBGO has a Flickr page on which tons of fotos appear. The great majority of fotos, however, seem to have no captions, so you won't know what you're seeing. Brandy said I could borrow any picture from BGO's Flickr photostream I'd like. At page 105 of the Flickr photostream appears their picture of the National Newark Building (744 Broad Street), with this caption: "WBGO's antenna sits atop the tallest building in Newark." Unfortunately, when I tried to save the foto at its full size, by right-clicking on it, Flickr refused to give it to me. Flickr did allow me to take this thumbnail, 159 x 240 pixels. Oh, gee, thank you so much!

I'm surprised that BGO broadcasts from atop 744. I would have thought that WBGO would broadcast from my favorite skyscraper in all the world, the Empire State Building. I was able to receive WBGO on my car radio quite far from Newark when driving to Montreal last July, so if the transmitter atop 744 is the only transmitter BGO has, it seems to be good enuf, at least in some directions.
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WBGO.org also streams its live feed and offers recorded shows to online visitors from all over the world. I don't use Flickr, but Google's Picasa. I do not, however, allow public access to the thousands of fotos I have on Picasa. But if I did, I think people could right-click on them and download them at full size, not thumbnail. I believe I can permit people to view my fotos on Picasa but prevent them from saving them. Anyone who sees a foto here that s/he would like to use can contact me and ask for permission. If they wish to use it for noncommercial purposes, I will probably grant permission to do so without charge. I probably already have dozens of fotos on over a dozen noncommercial websites. But this WBGO foto is NOT at full size. I guess I have to ask the nice lady in Marketing to send me the full-size foto. In the interim, here is one of my own fotos of the BGO Building from Military Park.

I don't listen to music at home, but do have three buttons set on my car radio, one to BGO, one to QXR, and one to Lite FM. I suspect my friend Joe from Belleville would have a heavy metal station on at least one of his pre-set buttons. I don't know what Gaetano listens to in the car. Perhaps I'll remember to ask when I see him at this Thursday's Bears game at Riverfront Stadium. The Passaic is not a great river in terms of width, but it is 80 miles long and has a drainage basin/watershed of about 935 square miles. It now also has two stadiums near its opposite shores, one in Newark for the (baseball) Bears and one in Harrison for the (soccer) Red Bulls.

Trinity & St. Philip's Steeple, Repainted

This "Church Sunday", let's celebrate repairs to the distinguished steeple of the Episcopal Cathedral at the northwest end of Military Park. I mentioned here in October that there was scaffolding on it. Apparently the steeple, whose paint had been peeling badly, has been repainted. Presumably the subsurface was repaired before the repainting. Here's what the steeple looks like now.

Alas, the repairs did not extend to the four-sided clock, which, as you can see, does not work. Different faces show different times, and the front face has no minute hand. (Note what appear to be floodlites for the steeple.)

Let's be happy if the work done last October has preserved the steeple from rot, and the church below it from water damage. The building is a historical landmark, and George Washington's troops marched past original parts of it on their retreat from New York. Thomas Paine made the start at his first draft of The Crisis ("These are the times that try men's souls...") in a tent nearby, in what is now Military Park. My foto of Trinity at nite in the post of January 21st, 2009 linked to just above shows the sorry state of the paint on the steeple before the repairs were mounted. (That post also gives some of the history of New Jersey's role in the Revolutionary War.) President Obama quoted from The Crisis, and thus indirectly included Newark, in his (first) Inaugural Address. (And Queen Latifah represented us at that event, even if she didn't say so explicitly.)
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Newarkers should be grateful to this city's remaining Episcopalians for finding the money to repair historic Trinity & St. Philip's Cathedral and keep it part of our skyline. Thank you, Episcopalian Diocese of Newark, for understanding that keeping historic churches in good repair is a worthy use of church resources. Would that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark had such reverence for its great churches, like Sacred Heart of Vailsburg.

Foto Show at JuMu, Sunday

I attended events at four venues in Friday nite's first Art Walk, then attended a soccer game at Red Bull Arena in Harrison with Gaetano on Saturday. (He has 2 season tix, and I was his guest this time. Other times he takes our mutual friend Joe from Belleville, or somebody else. It's much better to go to a game with a friend than alone. And Gaetano is very good company, always having an observation to make. Indeed, he is much like a pointer (hunting dog) for a fotografer, like me. He spots things I don't. It's the same with going to an art event with someone, like my friend Lisa or Ingé. They see things I don't. I suppose it's also possible that I see things they don't. In any case, for most cultural and sporting events, two is usually better than one. People are social animals.

Alex Masket show at Gallery One, in One Gateway Center, seen from outside.

Brilliant Newark artist Kevin Sampson told me about a trip he made into Manhattan recently.

New York, was disappointing and I totally agree [that] Giuliani and his push to clean things up, cleaned up every thing. The Village actually scared me, every one was dressed the same. every one had on the right shoes and the right glasses. And even those people who looked different looked fake. I got on the subway to ride up to Harlem, looked around and i am not lying every other person was playing with a mobile device, no one was present. I some times wonder how new yorkers can stop a terrorist attack when no one has been paying attention.

What has happened, and not just in NYC, is that people have accepted the idea that pseudo-contact, over the Internet or wireless fone, is human contact. It is not. People on a train or bus, or in another situation when they are or could be at rest, merely looking around and enjoying the away-ness of the situation, feel the need to connect with friends, family (often as a way to fulfil a responsibility of regular calls, rather than a real desire to speak to family), and business colleagues.

Newark Penn Station, across from Gallery One, has a new liting scheme, dazzlingly brite (much briter than this picture), with pink edges. Newark Penn is the nexus for Red Bulls fans who come from NY via NJTransit or Amtrak trains and then transfer to the PATH to go one stop to Harrison.

In any case, in the course of Friday and Saturday, I took 198 fotos to run thru my graffics program, plus a video of some chanting and dancing at Red Bull Arena after the Bulls won against the Philadelphia Union. This is scant comfort to Newarkers who saw Philly eliminate the Devils from the Stanley Cup playoffs, but we have to take what we can get.

Don't cringe at my playful shorthand for the Jewish Museum of New Jersey. "Jew" is decidedly not a bad word. I learned that in eighth grade, when I broached the question with a friend from Little Silver Elementary School, Charlotte Green, at whose house I experienced my first and only Seder. The "bitter herb" that nite was horseradish. I love horseradish, in moderation. It's great on hot dogs.

Gaetano approaches Red Bull Arena after a long walk from a parking lot, with the Newark skyline behind him.

In any case, JuMu hosts an opening reception tomorrow on the second floor (and there IS an elevator, Phil Yourish of JuMu corrected me) of Congregation Ahavas Sholom, 145 Broadway, Newark, NJ 07104.

The Jewish Museum of New Jersey will present an exhibition of photography by Eliyahu Lotzar, "Signs and Wonders," beginning with a reception on Sunday, April 25, at 1 p.m. The exhibition will continue through Sunday, June 6.

This is Mr. Lotzar’s debut exhibition following 30 years of study and work in the medium. The international photographer is a Chatham native who spent 15 years living and working in Israel and is a citizen of both it and the United States. He earned a BA in Political Philosophy at Michigan State University. While in Israel, Mr. Lotzar obtained a master’s degree in Social Work. He has practiced social work with drug addicts and criminals both in Jerusalem and San Francisco. He currently resides in Newark.

Mr. Lotzar studied photography at the International Center for Photography in New York. However, he notes that his art was primarily influenced by reading, practice, reading more and critiques of his work by fellow artists. He uses everyday scenes and natural wonders to draw the viewer into an experience of the peace and play of the present moment. Mr. Lotzar said that his work is informed by years of deep spiritual commitment to the message, "Be Here Now" as well as the study of yoga and the Kabalah.

"Signs and Wonders" will run from April 25 through June 6 at the Jewish Museum of New Jersey.... The Museum is open Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. and by appointment. Free off-street parking is provided [where??] and a donation of $10 is suggested. For information or to RSVP for the opening reception call (973) 484-2609, or email at info@jewishmuseumnj.org.

I don't know that I will go to this reception. Aside from rain in the forecast, I can't afford a $10 donation. Would that I could, but I go to so many of these things I'd end up as one of those people who live under the Jackson Street Bridge (if that little community, which I chanced upon a few years ago, still exists). I could put out a cup — or maybe the big, floppy straw hat I use to shade the monitor of my camera from sunlite — on some busy sidewalk during the daytime with a sign, "Money for Museum Receptions", by it, or perhaps make a sandwich board, "Will Work for Museum Admissions".

Stairway to Heaven. Red Bull Arena is just barely in grudging compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is apparently only ONE elevator — in a stadium that seats 25,000 people — and few signs to direct people to it. The elevator itself is WAY out of sight, and a lot of employees don't even know where it is.

I disapprove of dual citizenship, and if the U.S. Government consents to it, the law must change. Dual citizenship is dual loyalty — and dual disloyalty. The United States and Israel are currently at an impasse over the absolute refusal of the Israeli Government to stop building settlements in occupied Arab territory. Rage over U.S. complicity in Israeli outrages produced the 9/11 attacks and many other assaults upon Americans at home and abroad. If the U.S. gears up for a forcible removal of Israel from Palestinian territory, on whose side will all those dual citizens come down — ours or Israel's? It's a very serious question.

Opening reception for RAM Gallery in the Lincoln Park area.

I don't know if my brother Alan's children and grandchildren in Israel have any legal U.S. connection anymore. I'll have to ask when I meet him at EWR May 8th on his way to Tel Aviv. His itinerary shows travel time of nearly 15½ hours, not counting a nearly 3-hour layover in Newark. Jeez. I'd like to think that if I had kids and grandkids who lived 15½ hours away, I'd visit now and then. But I'm not so sure.

Art Walk 1, Friday; Pix of WBGO Show

I mentioned here yesterday that I was unclear about just when and what "Art Walk" was to be, and that I had been unable to get information about it from the Newark Arts Council's website.

Most fotos today are from this evening's reception for a fotograffic exhibit in the Art Gallery at WBGO. The liting conditions proved very difficult for my camera, too dim for detail and to freeze motion, but brite enuf that flash turned out as bad on its end as no-flash on its.

Then I attended the reception for the Tony Graves foto show at WBGO/Jazz 88 today and almost literally ran into Linwood Oglesby, Executive Director of NAC (which, I clarified thru him, is said as separate letters, not the word "knack") in the narrow hallway that serves as BGO's Art Gallery. I asked him about Art Walk. He explained that this is the first of what are to be a number of Art Walks, once a month, focusing on different parts of the city. This time, the area is Market Street and the Lincoln Park area (which are about a mile apart, walkable but not close). From 6-10pm FRIDAY (tomorrow, April 23rd), not Saturday, participating galleries will be open for people to walk in. Again, the arts community is stepping up to give Newarkers things to do in the evening. Art Walk is to be something like the Studio Tour during Newark's artswhirl in late October each year. I asked if there was a map available, and he said yes. I said I had gone to the NAC website the day before and found nothing. He said the info was now available.

Pianist and trumpeter entertain.

What I later found at the NAC site was an introductory couple of paragraphs and a link to a press release. But no map. Here's the introduction.

The Newark Arts Council kicksoff a new program, Newark Art Walk this Friday, April 23. The Newark Art Walk will take place on the fourth Friday of each month through October, and focus on a cluster of Newark’s galleries and restaurants, typically within walking distance of each other.

The new initiative, a spin-off of the Newark Arts Council Open Doors Studios Tour during which visitors have the opportunity to experience Newark’s vast arts community over the course of one weekend, will offer visitors a more intimate showcase of the vibrant and evolving downtown art scene, as well as the local businesses and restaurants, on a monthly basis.

Here's some more detail about the first Art Walk, from the NAC's press release.

Art forms including visual, media and performance will be featured each month. Participants in the first of the monthly Art Walks feature galleries in the Market Street/Lincoln Park zone, including

Gallery One, Gateway One (across from Newark Penn Station), gugaart.com 6PM – 10PM
Guerilla Galleries Presents: `MASKET'

Submerged Art Gallery, 210 Market Street, submergedart.org, 6PM – 10PM
Presents: “Another Art Show” * * *

Brick City Coffee Company , 11 Lafayette St, 7AM – 8PM
Eclectic Brew: Mansa K. Mussa

cWOW [City Without Walls], 6 Crawford St, cwow.org, 6PM – 10PM , performance 7PM.
Comedy Night Last Laugh featuring comedian C.J. Prince. LOL exhibit on view.

Russell Aldo Murray Gallery , 460 Washington Street, RAMGalleryspace.com, 6PM – 10PM
Grand Opening Reception of the Russell Aldo Murray Gallery at Lincoln Park featuring masters of African-American art and spoken word.

Solo(s) Project House Studios , 972 Broad Street, 6 – 10PM
Solo Project #1: Outside Your Box
Paintings in Lobby by Willa Goldthwaite
SOILED PROJECTS consignment shop preview

Dorthaan Kirk, BGO's Special Events and Programs Coordinator, says that the station has 6 art receptions a year. This is the first I heard about.

ADDITIONAL GALLERIES THAT WILL BE OPEN APRIL 23
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art , 591 Broad Street, aljira.org, 6PM-10PM
"I'm always thinking of you even when I'm kissing another boy" by Ethan Shoshan
The EmergeNext Project "Her Dark Matters" by Jenny Salomon
A VHS screening of Rene Laloux's "La Planète Sauvage" (Fantastic Planet), 1973, science fiction animation, 72 minutes, rated PG.

Then Cephas (pronounced sée.fas) Bowles, President and CEO of BGO, reminds the audience that WBGO and wbgo.org reach far beyond Newark.

Index Art Center , 585 Broad Street, IndexArtCenter.org, 6PM – 10PM
Filmideo! Independent shorts curated by Sara Mayti
Reception Room: Works by J Mike Kuhn

Sumei Multidisciplinary Arts Center , 85 Hamilton Street, corner of NJ Railroad Ave, sumei.org, 7PM – 10PM
LIFE DRAWING WITH OR WITHOUT INSTRUCTION, Sessions: $15 each
Instructor/Facilitator-Artist Kevin Darmanie

Dorthaan had introduced us to "Steve" from Mississippi, who was in town for a convention at the Newark Museum (seems odd, but that's what she said) and had become familiar with WBGO during his visit. While the speakers spoke, Steve sketched.

Now, here's a surprising twist, if the press release is correct.

Art district zones that will be highlighted throughout the year include: Halsey Street Village, and Downtown and Ironbound. Early next month the balance of 2010 schedule will be announced. The Newark Arts Council Open Doors Studios Tour, taking place September 24 – 26, 2010 will offer an inclusive look at all of the galleries via the Gallery Crawl and Studio Tour.

Fotografy School, #1. My camera couldn't fotograf this foto poster of Peter Jennings with a female jazz figure because of poor lite and reflections from track lites above.

Hm. On November 2, 2009, I wrote here:

So the beginning of the second day of Open Doors '09 was great; the end was great; the middle needed work. I don't know whether a forecast of rainy weather adversely impacted the event. This is one major reason I would argue for moving Open Doors a month earlier, because September is ordinarily pretty warm and dry. Even major tourist guidebooks for New York say that September is the best month to visit the NY area. We are certainly not New York (thank goodness), but we get their weather first, so mild, dry September would seem a better time for Newark's arts whirl.

If the September dates (which are Friday-Sunday) are correct (the same dates in October are Sunday-Tuesday, so not likely), perhaps a lot of other people agreed that we should do this during warmer, dryer weather. I dare not claim any credit in producing a shift a month earlier, especially since we might have a hurricane then. Of course, if the weather is beautiful, it was all my idea. If it is dreadful, the change in date is all NAC's doing.

Fotografy School, #2. Here, I decided to try flash, since the upward angle should not reflect the flash back into the camera. It surprised me how well this picture turned out. (Among Tony Graves's pictures in the show is one of Dee Dee Bridgewater with a shaved head and wearing a flowing red dress.

Linwood said that the Submerged Gallery is 3 floors at the corner of Beaver Street and Market, started by an artist who moved here a couple of years ago from Los Angeles. I asked, "Salomon [Anaya]?" Yes. I met Salomon, at Rupert Ravens Contemporary, shortly after he arrived. I said to Linwood that I wasn't sure he'd stay in Newark, since he was from Los Angeles. I realized later that I should have clarified that the winter is so severe here as against Los Angeles that he might flee back to sunnier climes, not that Newark doesn't compare well against L.A. as a city congenial to artists. I told Linwood that I had inquired of Rupert if they were participating in this Art Walk, but was told by his associate, Gae Savannah, that she didn't think they were participating this time. Linwood said that Rupert is so big that he can't turn on a dime, but it took a lot of room for him to turn around — like a battleship or aircraft carrier, I suggested. Linwood anticipated that RRC would participate in a later Art Walk.
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I got an email announcement from LPCCD about the RAM Gallery (I don't know if RAM is said as a word or as its constituent letters; perhaps I'll find out Friday) that explains that it is "a collaborative effort" between the Morristown group "Art in the Atrium" (which for some reason is referred to as "ATA", tho I don't see what the second-A is for) and the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District. I still don't understand the "Coast" part of that name. In any case, it is in the same space I showed here last October 29th, a new ecologically "green" townhouse. The Gallery is to be "a contemporary art and event space in Lincoln Park, an up and coming eco-arts and cultural destination in Newark", and is named for one of LPCCD's founding members, (the late) Russell Aldo Murray.

Fotografy School, #3. I took one more foto of a foto poster, with flash, to see if that was a good fix for the problem of shooting obliquely at a surface marred by reflections.

As I walked back to my car, parked several blocks away (more about Newark's insane parking restrictions some other time), I made a short sidetrip to take more pix of NJPAC, since I mention it a lot and want to have a different picture for each mention. I was pleased to see that all the letters of Theater Square Grill were lited, unlike the situation I showed here March 28th.

On the way to BGO from my car I also noticed that Washington Florist had removed the dead dwarf evergreen I showed here March 27th. They have not as yet, however, replaced it with something wonderful. A florist could put revolving plantings into a display planter out front, with a descriptive plaque about what the name of the plant is, the lite and soil requirements, etc., as both a sales pitch and environmental education for passersby.

Foto Show at BGO, Thursday; Halsey Street Block Parties This Year

I want to get to a reception at the WBGO Art Gallery tomorrow.

WBGO Gallery Exhibition
The Photography of Tony Graves

Join us for a free gallery reception on Thursday, April 22, from 6 PM - 8 PM at the WBGO Art Gallery [54 Park Place, Newark 07102]. View the exhibit, meet the photographer, and enjoy live entertainment.

Tony Graves was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and is a graduate of the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Photography from the Center for Creative Studies, which is also in Detroit. He has a special affinity for photographing musicians, and his photos have captured the essence and aura of many jazz artists. Some of the musicians whose photos are featured in his work include Winard Harper, Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Williams, and vocalists Abbey Lincoln, Nnenna Freelon, and Yvette Glover. * * *

His photographic work has appeared in publications such as Savoy Magazine, Black Enterprise, Heart & Soul, and Positive Community Magazine.

I don't have any unused fotos of WBGO (something I hope to remedy tomorrow), but I do have some pix of things in its general neighborhood, such as this view past the JFK bust at the southern tip of Military Park. BGO is on Park Place, which forms the eastern boundary of Military Park.

Tony has recently been engaging in another favorite pastime and skill he learned while growing up in Detroit -- playing drums.

For more information about Tony Graves, visit http://www.tonygraves.com/

Join us for refreshments, entertainment and meet Tony Graves, at our Gallery Reception in the WBGO studio, Thursday, April 22, from 6 - 8 pm. There will also be a live performance.

It's free and open to the public.

You can also visit the WBGO gallery during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM.

View of the north end of one of the Halsey Street Block Parties last October, late in the event.

Block Parties and Newark Pulse. I got an email recently about this year's Halsey Street Block Parties.

I’ve been meaning to drop a line for a while. Been following your blog for a year or so. I was googling the Halsey Street Block Parties from fall and found your post about it. [Actually, there were three posts, about aspects of the Block Parties, on October 6, 2009, October 7 and October 13th.] I’m one of the coordinators for this year and wanted to get more feedback from you. What you liked? Hated? What would make it better.

We’ll bringing them back twice a month from May – September – so I’d like to incorporate all types of different things – fashion show, art, networking, etc.

South end of Block Party.

I couldn’t find an email from Newarkusa – but found a link to the Tourism Site – which I agree wholeheartedly about nothing showcasing all of Newark. I’m launching a new site to hopefully help put everything all together in one place (Newarkpulse.com) most of the framework is done I’m just BUSY (understatement) adding information and articles to it now for the next two weeks – would love your feedback!

And if you’d like to get together for a coffee and chat – let me know!

Tamara

Shadow seen on Halsey Street during one of the Block Parties.

I replied:

My email address appears at the top right of my blog as "ResurgenceCity[on the service]aol.com", but a lot of people seem not to understand "[on the service]" as a substitute for the at-sign (@) so I'll have to figure another way to camouflage the email address to keep spiderbots from plucking my address for spam.
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I would be happy to put your email into my blog to solicit ideas from readers, if you'd like. I can show your email address or have them write thru me -- at some clearer email addres -- whichever you'd prefer.
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As for my own suggestions, I'm afraid I too am very busy right now, trying to create a "Save SHV" website to fite the closing of Sacred Heart of Vailsburg church, in addition to putting up a few major entries in my blog. But I'd be very happy to meet with other Newark boosters to brainstorm about how to make EVERYTHING, not just the Halsey Street block parties, better. Let me get back to you once I've got these major projects done. In the interim, let me know if you'd like me to put your request for suggestions into my blog, and if so, whether you want me to show your email address.

Birches on grounds of NJPAC two blocks east of Halsey and half a block north of WBGO.

She responded further:

I’d love some feedback from your blog. Please use newarkpulse(at)gmail for contact address.

Also if you can make a note – it will cover more areas of Newark [than just the Halsey Street area, I guess that means] but we’re still inputting information and articles and have only just begun. And would love any and all feedback!

Newark needs lots of outdoor events, day and evening, not just concerts at Championship Plaza and outside NJPAC. The Halsey Street Block Parties, one of which tied into an "After Hours" event at the Newark Museum, are another step in the right direction to making Newark a place where people can socialize without spending a fortune. Such events should draw in a lot of bored kids from the suburbs, which is all to the good. Some of them will then go to college in Newark and move here after graduation.

Art Walk? Newark Pulse makes reference to an Art Walk this Friday, and cWOW mentions it in passing with reference to its comedy show Friday evening, but I can't find any more information about it. The link from Newark Pulse to the Newark Arts Council leads nowhere, because the NAC site doesn't discuss it. Noelle Williams had mentioned it to me when we ran into each other in Branch Brook Park, and I thought she said it was Saturday, starting at Gallery Aferro. Anyone?

This dancer's posture reminds me of the Heisman Trophy.

mths62. I'm trying to help put together a 50th Year Reunion of my class of Middletown Township High School (Monmouth County) for July 2012, but we're having trouble reaching our wandering classmates. I created a blog to allow people to find information and offer suggestions, "MTHS Class of '62", but it isn't found in early results on searches on things people would think to plug into a search engine. So I thought I'd mention it here, because this blog tends to show up reasonably high in search-engine results. So here is some text I hope Google, Bing, Ask.com, and other search engines might find: Middletown Township High School New Jersey; MTHS 1962; MTHS class of '62; mths62; Middletown High NJ 1962 Reunion. Let's see if that helps.

No 'Beautiful Newark' Day; Springtime for Old Folks; Sampson Drawings

In each of the past three years, Earth Day has also been "Beautiful Newark Day", in a campaign by thousands of Newark schoolchildren to clean up litter and plant flowers. Not this year. I checked the website and sent email to ask if there was anything planned this year. Nobody got back to me. The original sponsor, The League, has apparently moved on. "Beautiful Newark Day" was originally put forward as a demonstration project, but I had hoped it would become an entrenched institution. No such luck.

I'm not a fan of white-flowering trees unless they are placed where they contrast with something dark. Here, the white blossoming tree has a giant hole cut into it to permit utility wires to pass, and the white blossoms stand out against a dark evergreen behind. This pair of trees is on Hazelwood Avenue, across from the former Sacred Heart School, now a North Star Academy Charter School, in my part of town, Vailsburg.

The schools need to push much, much harder on breaking bad habits in children, and turning them into little Litter Police to shame their peers and adults out of the disgraceful and infantile behavior of so many people, who just drop trash everywhere they go. They finish a snack package; they drop it on the ground. They finish a soda; they drop the can or bottle on the ground. The regular police and sanitation police should view such behavior as a gold mine in these hard times. Give the litterpigs tickets for heavy fines. Government should as well compel cleanup duty — in orange jumpsuits — as community service, on top of monetary fines. When you have a bad situation of long standing, you need draconian punishments to break people of despicable habits. Educators should impress upon kids of every grade level the importance of cleanliness and good order to high functioning. Disorder and filth drag people's spirits down; conversely, cleaning up what was a mess makes a marked change in people's attitudes toward their environment and their possibilities. Littering — strewing garbage — is not trivial, and should be crushed by education and punishment.

What should be a perfect spring display of massed daffodils in a private front yard on Roseville Avenue is ruined by trash strewn by slobs passing by.

NCC Spring Festival, Saturday. It appears that an event for old folks serves as a yearly fundraiser for the New Community Corporation, the group that arose after the Riots to rebuild Newark's devastated neighborhoods and spirit, but which is perpetually pressed.

The Annual Spring Festival on Saturday, April 24th, [is] a fun-filled evening that will see seniors squaring off against NCC employees on the dance floor to help raise scholarship money for needy students.

This year’s Festival is being held at the NCC Neighborhood Center, located at 56-68 Hayes Street, in Newark. The festival will run from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and NCC security will be on duty to ensure festival-goers a safe and enjoyable evening.

An array of delicious food will be provided by the NCC School of Culinary Arts and the evening will also feature a raffle with prizes ranging from computers to television sets.

"The Festival is an event that will bring people together for a great time and help support a worthy cause," said Tracey Battles, who heads the spring festival committee.

Proceeds from the event, for which tickets are $25, benefit the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship Fund. For over 20 years, the Fund has helped support over 2,000 students who have continued their education at a parochial or other non-public high school. Nearly 96% of our scholarship fund recipients have gone on to attend colleges and universities of their choice.

"We depend heavily on this festival to ensure we can continue to support these students," said Monsignor Linder [the priest from St. Rose of Lima who spearheaded the creation of NCC]. "During these difficult economic times when many families are struggling, the students need our help more than ever."

This foto shows a similar situation of litter in a sideyard of St. Rose of Lima, also in Roseville, where trash, including a large strip of brown paper, is interspersed with daffodils and English ivy. Note as well that the fence needs painting before rust does further damage.

Kevin Sampson Is Drawing and Mentoring Again. One of my favorite Newark artists, Kevin Blythe Sampson, sent his email list notice of his having resumed drawing (as against painting, murals, and sculpture), and had a little crisis with a kid he has been mentoring. You can see some of his recent drawings at Kevin's blog, "The Most Well Connected Poor Man In America", at the "My Art Work" tab at the top, and read how he resolved the problem with his mentee at 'The Light Comes On, Working with a Student from Haiti'. Tuf luv worked.

Devils Game with Gaetano

Very long post, many, many fotos.

My prosperous friend Gaetano treated me to a Devils game on Sunday the 11th (against the Buffalo Sabres). I parked near St. Lucy's (we wanted to find a stone commemorative plaque he had bought there), and Guy picked me up. He then parked in a lot only 2 blocks away, but it cost $20. I can't afford that, but Gaetano's still a relative youngster, and still working at a good job. As we walked across Market Street, Guy spotted this lady with a multitude of lapel buttons all over her Devils jersey. So did the kid to the right.

I used to have a gray military/West Point-style winter jacket half of the front of which I covered with mainly political lapel buttons when I was at City College of New York. It helped me stand out when I was handing out flyers for Students for Humphrey (Hubert Humphrey, then running for President, in 1968). He lost, to somebody named Richard Nixon. He didn't end up well.

One thing I was very eager to see on our Sunday outing was Jon Krawczyk's magnificent, 22-foot-tall, brushed-stainless-steel statue of a hockey player in Championship Plaza. I had theretofore seen it only at nite. In some of today's fotos you can see how large it is.

Also large is this inflated Devils mascot with a live person inside. (I had seen one of the more normal sized Devils mascots with his costume head off at the Vailsburg Branch of the Newark Public Library, where a model of the as-yet-unbuilt "Newark Arena" was on display. I put up a post about it on November 19, 2005, but none of the fotos now appears because AOL closed subscribers' online storage spaces.)

I hadn't known that the Devils host an outdoor party in Championship Plaza, with music both live and recorded, before each game in warm weather. Very festive. It's not just for people attending games. Anyone can enjoy the scene, and this is exactly the kind of thing Newark needs, free entertainment in a relaxed public setting. Here, people in the Plaza raise their hands to indicate where another, more normal sized mascot on the second foor of the structure ahead, should throw a balled-up teeshirt.

And here, you can see a teeshirt on its way.

I was bowled over by how happy, laid-back, and fun the Championship Plaza is before games. The hockey-player statue is a wonderful accent to the Plaza.
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Gaetano sent me some text that Jeff Vanderbeek, owner of the Devils, sent to season ticketholders about the postseason:

Prudential Center will be rocking. Our Fan Fest in Championship Plaza will begin 2 1/2 hours before every game, featuring a two-tiered beer garden, skating rink with free skate rentals, a band, alumni and the Devils Dancers. The Devils mascot NJ, Mike Gilfillan and I will be handing out Playoff t-shirts at Penn Station before the game and if you miss us there, don't worry -- everyone will get the red shirts before entering the arena. It will be great to see the RED OUT that can only come from the most rabid fans in sport. We want to truly ROCK YOUR RED this year!

The team worked very hard this season to overcome an unprecedented string of injuries and the effort paid off with another Atlantic Division crown and our 13th straight playoff appearance. Now, the Devils Army has to show that home ice will be the difference this year.

Every day, The Rock gains more attention on the national and international stage with a greater number of shows and events, the NCAA Regional Basketball Finals next year and now the Nets as well. In fact, we had a record number of events in March, but nothing will make The "ROCK" better known than Devils fans cheering wildly for their team.

Of course, this will happen only for as long as the Devils remain in the playoffs. Let's hope, for Newark's sake, that they stay all the way, and win the Stanley Cup.

One of the terrific features of this Championship Plaza pregame festival is a synthetic-surface "ice" rink, with skate rentals (or is used of skates free?). I had seen mention of such surfaces in Google AdSense ads on one of my websites, but had never seen such a surface in person until then.

Here, you can see that minirink in context, with Prudential's world headquarters building rising above the hockey-player statue. PruHQ is a fine, white-marble-clad building, but it is WAY too short. Prudential has built much taller buildings in several cities around the world. Here in Newark, Prudential can't fit all its operations in its present building, which is at least the third Prudential tower they have constructed in their history. (The Lions on the Lake in Branch Brook Park opposite the Cathedral Basilica used to stand outside an earlier tower that was demolished.) Assuming Prudential is doing well despite the current (but thankfully fading) recession, it is going to need more space, and a magnificent new World Headquarters Building right here in Newark, where Prudential has always been headquartered, is the perfect solution.

This terrific 200' x 30' mural by Pittsburgh artist Tom Mosser, and other artwork in the Prudential Center, show what can be accomplished in Newark when enlitened managers plan wisely.

Prudential can hold an international design competition and construct the most magnificent corporate headquarters on the planet, right here in Newark. Prudential has the money, and needs the office space. Newark has the physical space for a world-class icon of responsible behavior by a financial giant. As the Transamerica pointy 'pyramid' has become an icon of San Francisco, a new corporate headquarters for Prudential could become a world-renowned icon for Newark.

Prudential already has an icon, of course, in its Rock of Gibraltar logo. Few people know that that logo was inspired by Laurel Hill, the rock outcropping in the marsh that the Turnpike passes between Newark and New York. As Citigroup Center, with its tilted top that was originally intended for solar panels that were never installed, has demonstrated, a distinctive, even odd-shaped top to a skyscraper can form a memorable symbol of a company. Would a top to a skyscraper that looks like a streamlined version of the Rock of Gibraltar really be any more bizarre than the solar-panel-less top of the Citigroup Center?

In case you're having trouble picturing Prudential's "Rock" logo, I showed here on February 9th nitetime pictures of a model of the Rock of Gibraltar that graces the edge of Championship Plaza. The fourth foto that day shows the logo at the bottom of a bronze plaque. The fifth foto shows the model seen from the customary/logo angle, as seen looking west from the Mediterranean Sea. The sixth foto shows it from the other direction, the Atlantic side. Prudential Financial is very happy to have the Prudential Center known as "The Rock", because the association of "The Rock" with "The Prudential" bolsters its desired reputation as a company that is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. Would it then be preposterous to incorporate an architectural symbol of the Rock of Gibraltar into the top of, or even general form of, a new Prudential HQ here in Newark? If the Prudential didn't want to build super-tall, or the FAA would forbid a 100-story HQ because of the proximity of Newark International Airport, it could create a lower-rise office building in the shape of the Rock of Gibraltar, or a low-rise base, of ten or so stories of office space comprising a stylized version of the Rock of Gibraltar, with tinted glass walls the same color as the authentic Rock, and a tall, contrasting clear-glass-walled tower 80 floors tall. Or something like that. There is plenty of room in Newark for a super-edifice for the corporate near-saint that the Prudential has been to this city in its worst moments.

Getting back to my Devils Sunday, the Devils organization seemingly intends to continue to offer entertainment at Championship Plaza as long as the Devils remain in the playoffs. But what about after the hockey season, even in its most extended form, is over? Then what? Championship Plaza is a splendid public space within 3 blocks of Newark Penn Station, in the heart of Downtown.

I don't know the name of the band (surely there could have been a discreet sign on the stage) nor of its appealing lead singer.

It would be terrific if some private or public entity would continue to offer very frequent free entertainment and socializing events in that space. The NJ Nets are supposed to start playing at PruCenter in the fall, for at least a couple of years until the Atlantic Yards arena is built in Brooklyn, so perhaps the Nets could sponsor festivities in Championship Plaza in the fall. But what of the summer? Who will step up to create frequent festive afternoons or evenings in the Plaza during the summer?

Outdoor smokers lounge as seen from Plaza.

NJPAC has outdoor concerts on Thursdays during the summer. But one nite of free entertainments and relaxed intergroup mixing in Downtown Newark is not enuf. Why not band concerts and color-guard performances by Newark's various high-school bands every week, even twice a week? Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts/dance) demonstrations once a week? Art sales? Outdoor concerts, with appropriate (but not excessive) amplification, by the Greater Newark Youth Orchestra? Why not make Championship Plaza a performance space for the best that all of New Jersey's schools, colleges, and church choirs have to offer? Why not a concert, by somebody, of some musical genre, every single nite or at least weekend evening all summer long? What youth chorus or band, indeed, what drama or musical-theater group would not want to perform to an audience in Newark's largest city? NY has Shakespeare and ballet in Central Park. Newark is smaller, but we could still have music, theater, and dance of several different kinds in Championship Plaza, two to five (or more) days or evenings a week, more than just one event outside NJPAC on Thursdays.

Colorful character in Plaza crowd. There was also someone in a Darth Vader outfit.

Think big, people. There was a time when New Jerseyans saw Newark as Little Manhattan. Can't we now reconceive Newark as not just Little, but also Humane Manhattan? Manhattan has become a monstrosity of enormously excessive crowding and expense, in a city little recognizable as American, but really "international" — meaning "foreign". Newark could be the AMERICAN answer to foreign NY, where international cultures are welcomed but not dominant, not overwhelming. Start with the communities close-in, the Portuguese, Brazilians, and Hispanics. Invite the visitors or dayworkers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, China. Provide performances with guides: kabuki or traditional Chinese opera, explained. Demonstrations of things we think we know about, but don't know very much about, like a comparison of all the Asian martial arts, explained: karate, jiujitsu, kung fu; and the slowed-down version of Chinese martial arts, tai chi.

Plaza seen from outdoor smokers' lounge.

New York City is, I heard on the news recently, going to push a lot of artists out of NY parks and Times Square, because they worsen congestion and interfere with free movement of people in that hugely over-congested city. Maybe some of them will want to come to Newark, to sell charcoal or pastel drawings of pedestrians. If they find that they have Manhattan drawings, fotos, or paintings that Newarkers aren't interested in, maybe they will turn their energies to capturing and, frankly, romanticizing Newark sights the way they have been gilding NY sites for decades. NY is without question a great city, perhaps even what the David Letterman Show says every nite it is, "the greatest city in the world". That does not, however, mean that nothing but NY, and Manhattan in particular, is worthy of artistic renderings.

The interior of PruCenter is much more colorful now than at the "Kickoff Celebration" in October 2007.

So not only high school choruses but also pre-selected youth art could be shown at Championship Plaza during musical performances by their school's (or any other) band. NJ is much too timid about promoting — yes, even "pushing" — NJ artists, in any genre, be it music, visual arts, or literature. NY is a cultural powerhouse not just because of the power of its being but also because it has institutions that seek out, cultivate, and give publicity to its talented. Newark, just as the rest of New Jersey, has spent a ridiculous amount of time and energy trying to distinguish itself from NY. Everything NY is, Newark and NJ must not be. But we can usefully take some of the self-vaunting of NY, and tone it down, for Newark.

The same general area as above on October 14, 2007.

Now, stepping down from my soap box, I present more pix of our visit to the Rock. Gaetano pointed out that during intermissions there are sometimes special events. Here, several young men try to win a car by shooting for the goal from more than half the rink away. The sound was too loud and unclear for us to understand if the guy from Manalapan who was last to make the goal did or did not win a car.

I do know this much: the Devils won the game, within about 3 seconds of the end of regular play, at a time when the Sabres' goalie was, astoundingly, away from the net. I tried to find out on the Internet afterward why that was, but the explanations weren't clear. Something about somebody having to leave the ice for a moment to avoid there being too many Buffalo players in the game.

In any case, the Devils won this last game of the regular season, and everybody headed out. As Gaetano had told me, some exiting fans broke into spontaneous chants of "Rangers s*", for no particular reason, since the Devils weren't playing the Rangers.

There were a number of fotos that didn't turn out. Here, I took an inadvertent art shot when the camera apparently slowed for low lite, and I moved it before the exposure was complete. I don't know how the top of the foto shows motion but the bottom does not, but it makes for an interesting effect.

As we exited the Arena, women at the exits were handing out little plastic hockey sticks for Fan Appreciation Nite. Here, Gaetano took a picture of me with my camera, showing me by the Krawczyk statue's giant hockey stick, holding a little plastic hockey stick, like the woman in the background. I took a similar picture of Gaetano, but it turned out fuzzy. Silly camera.

Inside, there was a giant puck signed by hosts of people on the formal opening nite, October 27, 2007. The puck is not supposed to be larger than the stick.

In addition to the large fotos above, I present, below, a slideshow of smaller-format fotos.