Muyambo Marcel Chishimba was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1950. He was taught as a young boy to paint by his uncle, Kabemba Albert Stounas, an acclaimed artist in Congo. As a young man, Chishimba travelled to neighboring Zambia to further his studies and exhibit his work. Over the course of a number of years, Chishimba exhibited in Zambia, Swaziland, and Malawi. In 1993, after the death of his first wife amid extreme conflict in his homeland, Chishimba fled south to the Zambian border as a refugee.

Chishimba’s life as a painter continued sporadically while he lived in a Zambian refugee camp with his family and second wife, Mary. Never one to falter in the face of challenges, Chishimba painted and sold portraits and landscapes for nearly 20 years living in the camp, in order to buy enough food to feed his family. His stunning portraiture caught the attention of former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda during the president’s visit to the camp.

After becoming fast friends, Mr. Kaunda arranged for the Chishimba family to move into town in 2010, where Chishimba continued to paint, exhibit his work, and teach, demonstrating a variety of techniques to budding artists.

Chishimba and his family later applied for resettlement, spent several years in the vetting process, then finally left Zambia and settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the summer of 2019, where he now continues his 50+ year career as an artist, painting abstracts and landscapes with oil on canvas. His bold, dynamic strokes and his unique combination of earthy tones and richly hued colors are inspired by the culture and people of his African homeland.

While his preferred medium is oil on canvas, Chishimba paints using acrylic and watercolor as well, and is also an accomplished sculptor. As an artist, teacher, and father of 8 children, he now passes on the family craft by teaching several of his children to paint.

B.  Curtis Grayson, III has had the desire to be an artist since an early age. Whether it was drawing with his first crayon or watching his favorite TV sitcom, “Good Times” as J.J. (Jimmy Walker) created masterpieces on his easel. He later learned that all the artwork shown was from The Ernie Barnes Collection.  His demand for education in the arts continued.

With his undying faith in God, Grayson has been blessed to realize his dream. With his desire and talents, he is definitely one of the most inspiring and up-and -coming artist today.

One of Grayson’s most celebrated series of work is his “Revelations Series”, a dedication to Alvin Ailey’s signature dance piece. One of the pieces in the collection, entitled “Dance of August” can be seen in the HBO production of Terri McMillan’s novel Disappearing Acts, starring Sanaa Lathan and Wesley Snipes, which premiered December 2000.

Recently, Grayson's work was commissioned for the McDonald’s 365 Black History poster to salute Black Media Legends. The poster was distributed throughout the tri-state area.

In 2013, Grayson’s artwork was selected to be featured in the highly anticipated “The Best Man 2” the sequel from director Malcom Lee with the original supporting cast.

Mr. Grayson is currently the A/P Studio Art Teacher at Columbia High School. Grayson has had the opportunity to exhibit his work throughout the region and different parts of the country, while attracting and receiving countless noteworthy collectors.

He works with oils, acrylics, watercolors, collage and other mixed mediums.  He uses bold, brilliant and bright hues, which display power and energy with each brush stroke. His paintings are filled with strong emotion and feeling.

Visit his website: http://cgraysonfineart.com/

Live jazz will be provided by the Mark Turner Trio. Artist’s talk at 3:20.

The TriState Botanical Artists is an active circle of the American Society of Botanical Artists, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of Botanical Art. Botanical and Natural Science art aids in plant identification and environmental awareness. Members of TSBA meet monthly at New York Botanical Garden to discuss their artistic journeys, share works in progress, plan and participate in relevant field trips and promote their art. Many of the artists have been juried into international competitions, have received certification and are instructors of Botanical Art at NYBG’s Adult education program.
Live music will be provided by the Johnny Woods Band.

Artist Statement: Barbara M. Bickart

Fall 2019

I am an interdisciplinary artist with formal training in the lens-based practices of video/filmmaking and photography. I make art because I like to open conversations. I teach because I like to open conversations about how art making can be used in the service of making the world a more just place. Most of my professional work as an artist has been grounded in working collaboratively with communities in struggle around issues of social justice. These paintings have emerged from my sensibilities as a video/filmmaker/photographer together with my desire to make sense of the tumultuous times we are living in, as everything I care about most is under siege.

Working with small frames in this on-going body of work, I have been exploring the concept of PAUSE, brought on by my own longing to slow down in a world that is driven ever-faster by the digital revolution. I am interested in how we orient and archive ourselves, our lives, in time and space outside of the world of electronics and the internet. Handwriting, maps, photographic prints, are all documents that orient us very specifically to a place, time, state of mind, person, relationship, or moment. They are also all forms of documentation and communication that are in danger of obsolescence, that I find beautiful and lyrical and metaphoric reminders.

I love that handwriting is specific and unique to an individual, like a thumbprint. I love the intimacy that handwriting represents; I love receiving a handwritten letter or note, knowing that there was a real person on the other end of the communication, who paused to collect a thought or two and to write it down with the intention of communicating something, conveying an idea, exchanging information. I think of maps and analogue photographs in the same way. The signature of the mapmaker and the photographer, the historical moment they lived in, their worldview, cultural mores, biases, cultural and physical boundaries, perceived geographies, and time are all embedded in these documents representing layers of information in a single freeze- frame.

With this body of work, I have sent out a call to people, asking for a handwritten note about a moment of PAUSE from their own lives. With each of these frames, I am exploring and considering a glimpse of personal topography, having to do with what is fleeting and basic and ephemeral within a PAUSE.

The pieces are named/numbered chronologically, to represent the individual moments of Pause in which they were created.

Sarah Petruziello creates portrait and self-portrait drawings and art works on paper primarily using graphite pencil on Strathmore Bristol or Arches watercolor paper. 

These drawings are meticulously-rendered illustrative works that use the figure situated into dramatic poses; the surrounding space creates a narrative for the figure by using a combination of symbolic elements and props as well as flattened or altered depth of space to create a psychologically-charged.

Visit her website: http://www.sarahpetruziello.com/

Artist’s talk at 3:30 pm

MAIN LIBRARY

Senior Studio is a unique and innovative concept that provides seniors with a dedicated art space and a range of opportunities to easily engage with art. Works from this past year will be on display through August. .

Our June/July exhibit features MAPSO Prom, Goldberg’s portraits from a Maplewood tradition; Prom Night at the Springfield Avenue Gazebo, where mostly students of color show up in style for the Columbia High School Prom. Friends, family, and members of the community gather each year to watch. Inspired by photographer Mary Ellen Mark masterwork PROM, MAPSO PROM is a celebration of the beauty and talents of the under-represented, a reflection on diversity and integration in Maplewood and South Orange.

Franck Goldberg has also contributed to the Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story, currently on exhibit at the Guggenheim. (Defacement is also known as “The Death of Michael Stewart”.) The exhibition gallery opens and closes with a reproduction of a video still from Franck’s documentary Who Killed Michael Stewart? which will be screened at the museum on July 16.

In the gallery section, ephemera that Franck loaned is presented in a glass case, including a flyer he designed for a benefit screening of Who Killed Michael Stewart? at Tin Pan Alley Bar in 1984.

The exhibition book includes video stills from Franck’s documentary, and, among other interviews, his recollection of the Michael Stewart Case.

https://www.franckgoldberg.net/