Looking Back and Looking Forward

January Pop Up Exhibits

January 19 – 31, 2018

Opening Reception

January 19, 4-6 pm

Visual Thinking with Sticks and Blocks – an exhibit of children’s artwork

As a teacher in the Trenton Public Schools  over several years time, I have marveled at the wide range of expressive images  constructed by kids using a simple medium — colored craft sticks and mini-blocks laid out on their desks.

The children’s emerging designs are consistently unique, usually figures or structures, sometimes just abstract patterns. Because it is an open-ended assignment, the results are often surprising. Even when similar themes are used such as houses, animals  or faces the children seem to grasp the essemtial traits while representing them  differently.

These images are transitory and at the children’s requests, I quickly photograph them before they are transformed into the next creative idea.

The five to ten year olds were always eager to share their imaginative creations.  This exhibit presents a small sampling of a larger collection of hundreds of spontaneous artistic designs and clever solutions — visualizations by Trenton children.

-Beth Daly

Learn More about the affiliated children’s workshop on January 20

Emerging Artists of Ellarslie

The exhibit displays the creations of the children attending the Fall After School Art Lessons at Ellarslie.  It includes work by the high school interns who acted as mentors during the lessons, and the work of teaching artist Alia Bensliman, classroom teacher and Trenton Museum Society Education Coordinator Meagan Impellizzeri. The mentors attend the Health Science Academy at Mercer County Technical School where their studies are focused on future careers in medicine.  The exhibit shows their artistic side: the creative thinking and observational skills developed in the art room work synergistically with their considerable science skills resulting in well-rounded students ready for careers helping others.

 

 

Trenton Photo Club at Ellarslie

Members of the Trenton Photo Club were invited to a behind-the-scenes tour at Ellarslie in early July 0f 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Breakup

Named for the first piece in her new series, The Breakup displays  “liberation from societal norms,” according to artist Tamara Torres.

Ms Torres is a native of Trenton, New Jersey and a citizen of the world. In her youth, she survived abuse, discrimination, and homelessness, and in her art, she has taken up the cause of abused, disadvantaged and disenfranchised women throughout the globe. Torres’ photography and photo-based art is unflinching, yet uplifting, intended to inspire women to create a visual and mental revolution. Her art has been exhibited in Trenton, New York, Scotland, London, Rome, and Italy.