(TRENTON, NJ) -- The Trenton City Museum’s annual Ellarslie Open juried art show invites artists to submit artwork through May 12 via its online Call for Art. Walter Wickiser, of Wickiser Gallery in New York City, will jury the 2022 show. Artists may submit up to six works, with a maximum of two from any of the 10 primary judging categories. Complete instructions and timeline, and entry link are found at ellarslie.org. The top award, Best In Show Overall, carries a prize of $1000. Best In Show in 2021 was awarded to Mikhail Gubin of New York City.
Showcasing contemporary work by established and emerging artists from across the region and beyond, the Ellarslie Open has developed into the area’s premier annual juried exhibition since it began in 1983. In 2021, out of 619 entries, it exhibited 136 diverse works of art by artists from greater Trenton, across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, and beyond. The 2022 show will open June 25 and remain on view through October 2. Details about exhibition events will be announced.
Juror Walter Wickiser’s career as an art dealer formally began in 1990 in Soho, NY, when he became the first director of the first gallery to be established in the United States from mainland China. This led to establishing his primary direction as a gallery director to exhibit work by American and Asian-American painters, as well as artists from China, Japan, and Korea. The focus of the Wickiser Gallery is to create a visual dialogue between various cultures and remind viewers of the ability of art to transcend cultural boundaries.
Since 1993 Wickiser Gallery has worked with the U.S. State Department and Art for Embassies Program. Wickiser’s artists have exhibited in the U.S. Embassies in Seoul, Moscow, Manila, Qatar, Bucharest, and Cypress, to name a few. Since 2003 The Wickiser Gallery has exhibited at dozens of International Art Fairs including Art Aspen, Art Busan, Art Hamptons, Art Miami, Art on Paper, Art Toronto, Houston Fine Art Fair, LA Art Show, and the Seattle Art Fair. Wickiser Gallery has received numerous reviews in ArtNews, Art In America, Art and Antiques, the Washington Post, Tampa Bay Times, and the Huffington Post. Work by many of its artists have been exhibited at American museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the High Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the New Britain Museum of American Art.
The Trenton City Museum is housed in Ellarslie Mansion, an 1848 Italianate Villa in the heart of Trenton’s historic Cadwalader Park, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Ongoing and rotating shows explore Trenton’s history and culture and showcase contemporary regional fine arts. Museum hours are Friday and Saturday from 12:00pm to 4:00pm and Sundays from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. There is no admission charge, but donations in support of the museum’s mission and programs are appreciated.
