Yas Reven, collage giclee, Dan Eells, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Untitled, Zach Whitehurst, ink on paper, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Cube, Max Lefko-Everett, cast glass and found object, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Lilliana Didovic, Something Red 1, Something Red 2, acrylic on canvas paintings, Sarah House, Mimic, porcelain, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Wes Valdez, Blur, blown and mirrored glass, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Raphael Fenton-Spaid, Ode to Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina #1, acrylic on mylar adhered to masonite, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Raphael Fenton-Spaid, Ode to Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina, detail, acrylic on mylar adhered to masonite, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts

Third Friday in Millville NJ is ten years old, the art crawl has become a nexus of art and culture in South Jersey.  A model for other towns using art to revitalize the downtown, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts is a multi-use art space with galleries, gift shop and artist studios creating a hub of artistic activity.  Liz Nicklus, the interim Director of RRCA, and a founding board member said to DoN, “I was very honord when the board asked me to come back and be the interim director here and it’s working out to be wonderful so far.” Emergence is the first show at RRCA since Nicklus has assumed leadership, she says, “I have a wonderful Assistant Director who curated most of the show in the main gallery, Brandon Smith, a glass artist from Wheaton Arts so he has assembled a lot of artists that he knows.  Of course, we have Lilliana Didovic from Philadelphia, as well.  On the other side we have the center’s member artists and I think it’s a very successful show.  The artists in the main gallery are from all over from as far as New York and Philadelphia, in the other gallery are artists from all over South Jersey, they’re our Center artists, some are from Millville, some are from farther away.  This gives them an opportunity to show what they’ve been working on.”

“Benefits to joining include, besides getting to show, you have opportunities to take classes, reduced rates on entries to other shows, a reduced commission, there are a lot of benefits to being a Center member.  It’s a good place for people to get their feet wet if they’re just starting out in the art world.  Folks say ‘How do I get a chance to show my stuff?’  Well, here’s a place to start, and Center membership is not as expensive as being an associate member and also you don’t have to be juried in.”

Liz says, “I’m a big fan of mixed media and I love to see what people do with found objects.  That’s my first love anyway.  Every piece in Emergence you can walk up to and become absorbed in whether it’s because of the process, or just the reflections, or the detail, it’s a very captivating show.”

DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Photographs by DoN Brewer

Kodak Digital Cameras

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