Getting around: Here's your map for the Jersey City Art & Studio Tour

By Margaret  Schmidt | The Jersey Journal The Jersey Journal 
October 02, 2015 at  8:50 AM

The Jersey City Art & Studio Tour marks its 25th anniversary this year -- and it is massive.

What started out a very manageable walking tour that was mostly Downtown and sponsored for many years by The Jersey Journal, the tour has grown exponentially. This year, galleries and studios will be open to the public in more than 200 locations citywide, showcasing work by some 800 artists.

JCAST 2015 - Official Map

Sites are open from noon to 7 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday for the self-guided tour.

Read more:  http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _for_the_jersey_city.html

N.J. artists gear up for massive Jersey City Artist and Studio Tour this weekend

By Rebecca Panico | The Jersey Journal The Jersey Journal
October 01, 2015 at  5:07 PM

JERSEY CITY -- Inside the massive 60,000-square-foot Lackawanna Center on 16th Street, local guitarist Matty D was shredding away during today's press conference kicking off this weekend's Jersey City Art and Studio Tour.

Artists were setting up their exhibits as Matty D serenaded the press trickling in to hear Mayor Steve Fulop tout the art tour, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend. 

"All of the artists are super," said Matty D, a house performer at the Liberty House restaurant and uses a loop pedal to layer beats. "I live in Jersey City, so I know a lot of these guys."

The annual event will kick off Friday night at the 16th street warehouse-turned-art-gallery, which was donated by the Lackawanna Center and Eames Management, said Luca Cusolito of Jersey City's Cultural Affairs department.

The three-day event will feature additional galleries and studios in over 200 locations citywide, while showcasing approximately 800 different artists.

Read more:  http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... l_jersey_city_art_an.html

Jersey City Art & Studio Tour celebrating 25th year with work from 800 artists

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal The Jersey Journal
September 28, 2015 at  2:11 PM

Hanging in a corner of a massive 16th Street warehouse are 60 photos depicting a day in the life of Jersey City.

The images, all taken on Sept. 12, 2015, ran the gamut, from young men walking down a street to a fire truck with lights blazing to the 9/11 "tribute in light" as seen from the Waterfront.

Photographers Eric Brown and Tracey Noelle Luz, of Honey and Moon Photography, collected them after putting out a call to city shutterbugs, then had six judges, one representing each ward, pick 10 winners each.

"A lot of the photos are special moments, a lot of the photos are banal moments," Brown said, with Luz adding that they all share a common bond: they capture "the city in a second."

The display will be one of hundreds of exhibits at this year's Jersey City Art & Studio Tour, which is celebrating its 25th year. The three-day event is kicking off Friday night at the converted warehouse at Lackawanna Center, 234 16th St. (at Erie Street), and will run all weekend at over 200 locations citywide, including galleries, private studios and pop-up exhibition sites.

One of those stops will be The Ruins JC, a new antiques and vintage items shop and art gallery located at 316 Communipaw Ave., just south of Pacific Avenue. Wayquay, the store's owner, said her store will feature live silicone art demonstrations by Tom McLaughlin along with works on display from numerous local artists.

"Literally people I've unearthed in the neighborhood," she said.

You can see a map of all the stops here, or pick one up at the City Hall vestibule, 280 Grove St.

The 600,000-square-foot flagship gallery, donated by the managers of Lackawanna Center, will house work from 200 artists using paint, film, ballpoint pen ... you name it. The artists include a Jersey City firefighter, John T. Ruddy, who is painting an 18-foot-high mural and a painter who teaches art at School 37.

Brandon Moon, of Paulus Hook, was at the warehouse this morning hanging up 12 of his oil paintings.

"This is the first time a lot of this has been seen, outside of me and my cats," he said.

Luca Cusolito, of the city Office of Cultural Affairs, has been coordinating the set-up at the Lackawanna Center gallery.

"I've lived here now for like two weeks," Cusolito said this morning.

The kick-off party runs from 6 to 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 at Lackawanna Center. Complimentary shuttle buses will run on the half hour between 7 and 11 p.m. from the Grove Street PATH station. There will be food, beer, wine and cocktails.

For the weekend tours, shuttle buses taking three different routes will depart from City Hall from noon to 7 p.m.

For more information, visit thejcast.com. By Friday, there will be an app available for Apple and Android devices to help guide you to each stop — search for Jersey City Art & Studio Tour.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... elebrating_25th_year.html