(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Pro Arts Jersey City presents "Return to the Mothership" from March 1–24, 2024 in the ART150 Gallery. The group exhibition was curated by Tris McCall. Participating artists include: Paul Caranicas, Sandra DeSando, Maggie Ens, Ed Fausty, Elaine Hansen, Shandor Hassan, Kay Kenny, Landes Sullivan, Andrzej Jerzy Lech, Elizabeth Onorato, Albert Pedulla, James Pusterino, Bill Rybak, Jill Scipione, Julie Terestman, Loura van der Meule, and Norm Francoeur.
"The Arts Center at 111 First Street called itself the heart of creativity in Jersey City," said the curator, Tris McCall. "It was no idle boast. While it stood, it was a hub of activity for painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, and others engaged in radical acts of seeing and being. The community living and working at 111 imparted its offbeat, restless, open-hearted personality to the city. That was more than fifteen years ago, and the town has since changed. But if you know how to look, you can still see the peculiar imprint of 111 First Street all over Jersey City. After the demolition, the displaced tenants of 111 didn’t stop pushing themselves; they continued to challenge themselves and their audiences. Though many of them have moved far away, it’s always rewarding to check in on what they’re doing now. Because in telling their stories, we’re telling ours."
There will be an Opening Reception on Friday, March 1 from 5:00pm–9:00pm During JCFriday.
ART150 Gallery is located at 157A First Street (2nd Floor) in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Tris McCall writes for NJarts.net and the Jersey City Times. He’s written about art, architecture, performance, politics, and public culture for many other outfits, too, including the Newark Star-Ledger, the Bergen Record, Jersey Beat, the Jersey City Reporter, the Jersey Journal, the Jersey City Independent, and New Jersey dot com. He also concerns himself with things that have no relevance to New Jersey. Not today, though.
Pro Arts Jersey City is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) professional visual arts membership organization dedicated to supporting and promoting artists and their work.
ART150 Gallery is made possible by the generous donation of GFP Real Estate. Their programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of the State, a partner agency for the National Endowment for the Arts and by Funds from the National Endowment for the arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Other support includes funding from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund, and the funding from the National Endowment for the Arts administered through the Jersey City Arts Council.
