Morristown Neighborhood House STARS Program receives $54,000 donation
The STARS (Smart Talented Athletic Responsible Students) after-school program, which serves more than 150 sixth-through eighth-graders at the Frelinghuysen Middle School, will receive $54,000 for tutoring, recreation and fine-arts instruction thanks to Goldman Sachs Gives.
Sixth-grader Isaac Castillo is hooked on a book at a recent STARS book giveaway. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Morristown Neighborhood House oversees the STARS program, whose goal is to productively occupy youths who otherwise would be unsupervised after school. It focuses on improving academic performance through mentoring and targeted instruction, bilingual labs for English-language learners and access to cultural, technical, performing-arts and fine-arts activities.
For five years, the operated with a combination of State funding through the New Jersey After-3 program, corporate donations and bequests from individual. This year, state funding cuts threatened to eliminate the program. New Jersey After 3 came up with $100,000 and area foundations and individuals contributed matching funds to keep STARS alive. “We greatly need and appreciate the generosity of this gift from Goldman Sachs Gives,” said David Walker, Morristown Neighborhood House executive director.
“The STARS program provides important services for students that they may not have access to otherwise,” said Todd Hohman, the Goldman Sachs managing director who organized the recommendations to Goldman Sachs Gives. “We hope this gift allows the program to continue offering its learning resources in the community.”
Established in 2007, Goldman Sachs Gives is a donor advised fund – a public charity that maintains individual accounts for donors who recommend grants to qualified nonprofit organizations from their accounts. The focus of this contribution is on areas proven to be fundamental to creating jobs and economic growth, building and stabilizing communities, honoring service and veterans and increasing educational opportunities.
Snow casualty: Morristown’s ‘Art Around the Park’ postponed for Feb. 1
Mother Nature is not an art lover, evidently. She has scheduled yet another winter storm, and it conflicts with Morristown’s second Art Around the Park gallery tour that was set for Tuesday, Feb. 1.
Harry Simon of the Simon Gallery knows that even a top-notch shuttle service is no match for a howling snow- and ice storm, so he has decided to postpone the event until Mother Nature takes a vacation.
As soon as the new date is selected, we will let you know.
In the meantime, check out the Art in the Atrium exhibition at the Morris County Administration and Records Building on Court Street in Morristown. Paintings, sculptures and quilts by three dozen African-American artists are on display on weekdays through March 11.
POSTPONED: Art Around the Park, scheduled for Feb. 1, 2011, has been postponed because a winter storm is on the way.
If storm stays on track, Morristown Parking Authority will open its garages to residents
If the winter storm stays on course this evening, the Morristown Parking Authority will again open its garages for free to Morristown residents so they can get their cars off the streets, said Pat Geary of the MPA.
If the storm stays on track to hit Morristown, parking garages at the Morristown Parking Authority are free from 6 pm Monday to 8 am Thursday, so snow plows can clean town streets more easily. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Residents could park from 6 pm Monday, Jan. 31, through 8 am Thursday, Feb. 3, in the garages at DeHart Street and also at the Vail Mansion Garage, the Ann Street Garage and the Cattano Avenue Dalton Garage.
“I expect this won’t be an easy storm, with it turning to ice. They’re better off being off the streets,” Pat said of local motorists.
Two to six inches of snow are possible by Tuesday afternoon, and up to a half-inch of ice could follow into Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
If the forecast changes dramatically and the storm is predicted to bypass Morristown, the offer will be canceled. We suspect that’s a deal most residents will gladly accept!
Of course, we will keep you up to date!
A map of Morristown Parking Authority garages.
Morristown police: Hug the curb, or face tickets and tow trucks
The snow is piled high. But Morristown police say that’s no excuse for blocking traffic.
They are urging motorists who park on the street to hug the curb, so that emergency vehicles can navigate narrow streets. Motorists with driveways are asked to park off the street.
Park too far out into the street, and your car may get ticketed or towed, warns Officer Stuart Greer.
With another winter storm warning in effect starting tonight, Jan. 31, stay tuned here to find out whether Morristown Parking Authority parking garages will again be open to residents.
Morristown police are urging motorists to hug the curb when parking on the street, despite the snow, so emergency vehicles have enough room to navigate narrow roads. Photo by Bill Lescohier
Gary Fisher, the ‘hippie capitalist’ of mountain biking, coming to Marty’s in Randolph
Gary Fisher, one of the pioneers of mountain biking, will roll into Marty’s Reliable Cycle in Randolph at 7 pm on Feb. 15 to talk bikes.
Gary, 60, once got banned from bike racing because his hair was too long. His love for racing was matched only by his passion for tinkering; in the mid-1970s he started grafting drum brakes, triple chain rings and other scavenged bike and motorcycle parts onto his 1937 Schwinn Excelsior X.
In 1976 he rode the machine to a course record in the Repack downhill race near San Francisco. Coaster brakes of that era got so hot, riders had to keep repacking them with grease.
In 1979, Gary and pal Charlie Kelly opened a shop in Marin County, CA., called “MountainBikes.”
And a craze was born.
Mountain biking pioneer Gary Fisher, from the film 'Klunkerz.'
“I wanted to do it my way,” Gary said in the documentary Klunkerz. “I wanted to make a company of this thing, and I wanted to spread it all around the world.”
“And the business was badly run from that minute on,” Charlie joked in the film.
“In order to get a bike from us, you had to pay us up front–a couple of crazed hippies….Demand was so high, and supply so limited, that even our ineptitude couldn’t stop us.”
Nobody questioned the quality of Gary Fisher bikes, however. Bring your cycling questions to Gary at Marty’s in Randolph on the 15th… or just bring a cracked helmet for an autograph.
Gary, who introduced front shocks to off-road bikes, will be joined by factory representatives from about 30 cycling companies. There will be food, prizes and discounts, too. Marty Epstein also has shops in Morristown, of course, and Hackettstown.
Slow Foods Winter Farmers Market comes to Morris Township
If this were the ’60s, Jonathan and Nina White would be hippies. He’s a former research engineer with a degree from Stevens Institute; she graduated with a degree in ballet and modern dance from NYU. They dropped their day...Open For Business: Older job seekers have support in Morristown
By Beth Kujan
Age discrimination is a deep fear running through Morristown professionals in a job transition. Actually though, the jobless rate among older workers is lower than the average, according to an article published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last March.
For those over 55 years of age, the jobless rate was 7 percent in February 2010 , compared to the average in NJ, which was hovering around 10 percent at the time. (It’s now 9 percent.)
Even so, the unemployment rate for persons over 55 has increased sharply since the beginning of the Great Recession. It is also true that older persons who do become unemployed spend more time on average searching for work.
In February 2010, workers aged 55 years and older had an average duration of joblessness of around nine months , compared with about seven months for those aged 25 to 54 years.
So why the longer transition time for older workers? Two research briefs published this Fall by the Rutgers Heldrich Center for Workforce Development suggest that lower reemployment rates for older workers may be caused by the job search strategies they choose and the intensity of their job search.
Beth Kujan, sustainability engineer
Technologically savvy youngsters are making use of social networking websites including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, whereas many older workers report using newspaper classified ads and recruiters.
The Wall Street Journal reports a trend away from job postings in print media as well as online job boards. Hence the job seeker of 2011 must keep up with the technology.
Fortunately, there are ample ways to learn the latest versions of software via the public library system, as well as at workshops for innovative job searches. The state offers and administers training grants. The Morris County Career Network and Dover Professional Service Group offer volunteer business opportunities to keep skills sharp.
For a more intense job search, career coaches are easily met through networking groups. Accountability groups form around the friendships developed during networking. Stepping up one’s use of LinkedIn, especially optimizing keywords, will amplify search efforts as well.
Vitality and relevancy are antidotes to age discrimination. In Morristown, there are plenty of resources to catalyze both.
And job-seekers 55 and older enjoy one big advantage: Youthful indiscretions were not recorded by cell-phone cameras and circulated around the web!
Beth Kujan is one of the organizers of the Morris County Career Network, which meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown to help professionals in transition.
Art in the Atrium celebrates African-American art in Morristown
“Paint every day no matter what!!! Or perish.”
That scribbled note is among a collection of artifacts that sets the tone for Memories of Russell, the title of this year’s Art in the Atrium show in Morristown.
The words were scribbled by the late Russell Aldo Murray, a Newark artist and teacher who helped launch Art in the Atrium 19 years ago as a showcase for African-American artists. The present edition, which opened Friday in the Morris County Administration and Records Building and runs through March 11, features an explosion of talent from three dozen black painters, sculptors and quilters.
It’s an amazing legacy.
(Click icon below for photo captions.)
Russell was “energetic, intelligent, artistic, clever, kind and generous of spirit. I really miss him,” said Montclair artist Janet Taylor Pickett, whose impressionist-inspired acrylic paintings are for sale at the exhibition.
Janet credited Russell, who died in his sleep of a heart attack at age 59 in September 2009, with helping create a “really democratic” show that gives emerging artists a chance to be seen alongside more established names.
Exhibitions like Art in the Atrium are invaluable for cultivating a market for African American artists, said Ivory Herbert, a retired corporate executive who serves on the show’s board.
“It’s just in recent years that a significant number of black people have gained a real appreciation for art, and started supporting it,” he said. “People have really fallen in love with it,” and look forward to the show.
“It’s a nice blend, a lot of good work,” said Morristown attorney Charles Craig, who serves on the board with his wife Victoria and their daughters, Lauren and Simone.
‘ART CHOSE ME’
One of the rising talents on display is Anthony E. Boone, 39. He’s got some eye-popping glow-in-the-dark abstract paintings that suggest the far reaches of our galaxy. Which is a long way from his day job as a freight train conductor.
Artist Anthony E. Boone of Montclair is a freight-train conductor who started painting in 2005. 'Art chose me,' he said, explaining that he wanted art for his home but couldn't afford to buy any. So he began making his own. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Anthony took up painting in 2005; he had no choice in the matter.
“Art chose me,” said the Montclair resident. “When I started I was kind of innocent. I wanted art in my home, but couldn’t afford to purchase any. So I made my own.”
When someone compared his works to Jackson Pollock, Anthony had to do some quick research. He quickly became a fan of the legendary abstract expressionist. “He was so raw,” Anthony said. Eventually, word of Anthony’s artistry got around the freight yard; a superintendent has commissioned some paintings. That’s just the beginning, no doubt.
Spanning four floors, the Atrium show spotlights many artists who discovered their passion circuitously.
Ceaphas Stubbs, an abstract painter at Rutgers, briefly tried to follow his sister’s footsteps in the sciences, according to their dad, Dan Stubbs of Newark. Yet art was in the young man’s blood since the age of five, when he intuitively grasped perspective in his drawings of angled picket fences. The father knew right then: “This guy’s an artist.”
Somewhere during her graphic arts studies, Anyta Thomas of Philadelphia discovered an unusual medium: Aluminum screens. She turns them into elaborate and colorful sculptures, which she sells through three representatives across the country. She also runs workshops for kids.
“Think outside the box,” Anyta advises young artists. “Don’t let anyone keep you in one styling. Experiment. That’s what life is about. Come up with your own unique fingerprint. You’ll be happier.”
Bisa Butler with her quilted homage to Diana Ross, 'La Diva.' Bisa teaches art at American History High School in Newark. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bisa Butler of South Orange started as a painter but switched to quilting when her daughters were born, so they would not be exposed to toxic paints. Her quilts are intricate mixed-media homages to pop icons such as Diana Ross and Josephine Baker.
“I like the textures of fiber, wood and glass,” said Bisa, who teaches art at American History High School in Newark.
Bisa tries to convey to her students that art is accessible. That message is shared by Lauren Craig, a board director of the show who also serves as executive director of the Russell Aldo Murray Gallery in Newark.
“I think art is approachable,” Lauren said. “It’s not just for stiff and stuffy galleries. You can live with it, and it can be a part of everyone’s life.”
Prices at the show range from about $175 to $10,000. Lauren’s sister, accountant Simone Craig, said she hopes visitors realize that “art is something worth investing in, an asset.”
Along those lines, Dennis Forbes, author of Studios and Workspaces of Black American Artists, gave an entertaining primer on art collecting. His advice: Do some research, collect what you love…and buy on layaway.
“Collecting is fun!” Dennis told listeners who packed the Morris County freeholder room. One of them asked when art collecting crosses the line and becomes hoarding.
Everybody roared at Dennis’ solution:
“You need a bigger house.”
‘AS GOOD AS IT GETS’
The collector in question was Warren Murray, and his collection is assorted works and personal effects of his late brother, Russell Aldo Murray.
Warren, an artist from Piscataway, assembled some of Russell’s belongings–old shoes, glasses, boyhood photos, journals and the scribbled “keep painting” exhortation–into a shrine he calls R.A.M., on the Atrium’s second floor.
Russell taught at Newark’s West Side High School. He was passionate about his art, unflappable, and had an uncanny knack for showing up at dinner time…then disappearing, according to Warren.
DINNER ART: Artist Warren Murray of Piscataway says anything can be art--even the remains of dinner. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Warren shares his late brother’s zest for life. He brought two lovely guests to Friday’s opening, introducing one as his ex-wife and the other as his “future ex-wife.”
When asked if they have compared notes on Warren, the ladies burst into laughter and declared in unison:
“His life’s an open book!”
Warren said his big brother is not really gone.
“He comes and visits me,” the artist said. “He’s having a good time.”
That was Russell Aldo Murray’s message.
“He said, ‘Don’t give me flowers at my funeral,’” Warren recounted. “‘Enjoy now. This is as good as it gets for us.’”
Visiting hours for Art in the Atrium are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 10 Court St. in Morristown. Exhibit tours may be arranged by calling (973) 540-0615. A public parking deck is in the same building, accessible from Schuyler Place. This year’s show is sponsored by the Arts Council of the Morris Area and the African American Fund of New Jersey.
CRAIGSLIST: Lauren Craig and Simone Craig flank their father, Charles Craig of Morristown. They all serve on the board of Art in the Atrium. Lauren also is executive director of the Russell Aldo Murray Gallery in Newark. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
That groundhog had better bundle up…a Winter Storm Watch runs through Wednesday
Morristown is in for more snow, followed by ice, followed by… the first flight to Miami!
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch starting tonight, Jan. 31, and extending through Wed., Feb. 2, Groundhog Day.
Two to six inches of snow are possible late Monday into Tuesday, before an afternoon changeover to sleet, and possibly rain, and maybe three-quarters of an inch of “glaze.”
Icing could knock out power lines and create runoff problems and leaks from rooftop gutters already caked with snow, according to the weather mavens. Wednesday morning’s commute could be especially slippery. Drive safely!
KEEP THE ENGINE WARM: Yet another winter storm is heading for Morristown. Photo by Bill Lescohier
