(NEW MILFORD, NJ) -- Nationally-acclaimed artist, Philip Smallwood, based in New Milford, New Jersey, will host a jazz concert at The Art Center of Northern New Jersey on Friday, December 16, 2022 from 6:30pm-9:00pm. The event is open to the public and free to attend, though donations for much-needed repairs to the art center are welcomed. Donations to the ACNNJ can be made on their website. Attendees are also encouraged to bring canned or dry food items to be donated to The Church of the Ascension Food Pantry, New Milford, NJ.

The concert will feature jazz classics and holiday favorites performed by: "Simply Music" Jazz, Drums: Bill White, Guitar: Bruce Hector, Bass: Mark Sims.

Philip Smallwood is an award-winning artist (having garnered over twenty-five featured articles, with 200+ juried awards and honors throughout his career) and is one of the top contemporary artists working in traditional realism. He has been blending imagination, reality, and social consciousness for more than 20 years, with a steadily increasing level of recognition for his work. Known primarily for his enduring series called Lifescapes, a powerful form of portraiture and visual narrative., Smallwood is a visual storyteller whose narratives embrace "real people living real, honest, imperfect, and totally unrehearsed lives," that merge color with shadow, focus with juxtaposition, and gravity with irony. 

Established in Englewood, NJ in 1957, the Art Center of Northern New Jersey (located at 250 Center Street in New Milford, New Jersey) has been an active participant in Bergen County cultural life for 65 years. It provides adults and children a stimulating environment for the development of skills and practicing art in all manner of media as it remains committed to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. Their main floor has a large exhibition gallery, painting studio, and photographic darkroom. The lower floor has a fully equipped print room, stone and clay sculpture studio, and children’s art room.