CELEBRATE WOMAN'S DAY

 

 

Celebrate Woman's Day

 

To me, Women’s Day is about two things – recognition and celebration. Despite all the progress that has been made in achieving equality for women, things are moving too slowly. There are still too few women in leadership positions; way too many women are still being abused in their domestic homes; too many women are being paid less at work; and definitely way too many women make up the statistics when we talk about poverty. I feel that Women’s Day is a good way to bring all these to the forefronts of people’s minds, both men and women. Sometimes in the humdrum of daily life, we forget what women the world over are going through. This day, we remember.

I hope that as we remember this day in years to come, we will remember more and more, until we never forget. But at the same time, it is necessary that we use this day to celebrate the success stories that women have had and encourage us to do even more to achieve our goal of equality for all.

Trenton a City for Athletes in Training
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

Community Performers Invited to MCCC Late Night Series
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

Community Performers Invited to MCCC Late Night Series

 

 

Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Late Night Series, an open-mic event hosted by the MCCC Drama Club and MC Post Midnight, invites performers from Mercer County and beyond to share their talents in dance, music, acting, film-making, poetry and more.  Performances take place in the college’s Studio Theatre, located on the West Windsor Campus at 1200 Old Trenton Road (next to Kelsey Theatre).  Dates this spring are March 13 and 27; April 10 and 24, and May 8.  Showtime is 10 p.m.  Doors open at 9:30; sign-up for the open-mic is 9:45 p.m.  For more information, email Jody Gazenbeek-Person at gazenbej@mccc.edu.  

Frida Kahlo exhibition coming to the Bronx in May
Topic: ART NEWS

 

Frida Kahlo is coming to The New York Botanical Garden, May 16th, 2015 and it cannot get here fast enough.  

After reading the calendar of events, Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life is massive with its programming surrounding the actual exhibition which includes over a dozen of her works, many of which are from private collections, live music and dancing giving us a colorful range of the performing arts, family events and so much more!  You will need to plan in advance for these events (especially for those who are traveling into NYC just to experience the exhibition and The Bronx!)

The timing of the exhibition could not have been better.  The Bronx is now home to one of the largest Mexican populations in the New York City region.  

‘Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life’ is going to be a 6 month-long celebration not only of one of the most celebrated artists in the world but also of culture of her Mexican homeland, the people, and everything that has taken roots here in our borough and are city.

This blockbuster exhibition will be the first to examine Frida Kahlo’s keen appreciation for the beauty and variety of the natural world, as evidenced by her home and garden as well as the complex use of plant imagery in her artwork. Featuring a rare display of more than a dozen original Kahlo paintings and works on paper, this limited six-month engagement will also reimagine the iconic artist’s famed garden and studio at the Casa Azul, her lifelong home in Mexico City.

Accompanying events invite visitors to learn about Kahlo’s life and enduring cultural influence through poetry, lectures, Frida al Fresco evenings, Mexican-inspired shopping and dining experiences, and hands-on art activities for kids.”

Casa Azul in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

 

The Haupt Conservatory will come alive with the colors of Kahlo’s Mexico, greeting visitors with an evocation of the artist’s garden at the Casa Azul (Blue House), her lifelong home.  Passing through blue courtyard walls, visitors will stroll along lava rock paths lined with flowers and showcasing a variety of important garden plants from Mexico.  A scale version of the artist’s pyramid — created to display pre-Hispanic art collected by her husband, muralist Diego Rivera — will feature traditional terra-cotta pots containing desert plants found in her garden, as well as the organ pipe cactus fence located at Rivera’s studio in nearby San Ángel.  Experience the Casa Azul as the ultimate expression of Kahlo’s connection to Mexico and the natural world.

Kahlo’s Woks in the Art Gallery

 

 The LuEsther T. Mertz Library’s Art Gallery exhibition, curated by Adriana Zavala, PhD, will feature 14 of Kahlo’s paintings and works on paper — many borrowed from private collections — highlighting the artist’s use of botanical imagery in her work.  Focusing on her lesser-known yet equally spectacular still lifes, as well as works that engage nature in unusually symbolic ways, this grouping will include Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940); Flower of Life (1944); Still Life with Parrot and Flag (1951); and Self-Portrait Inside a Sunflower (1954).

Exhibitions in the Mertz Library are made possible by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

Additional support has been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and by a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sponsored by Carolina Herrera New York.

 

Visit this link below to see all the festivities that are planned to coincide with the exhibition.

 

 http://www.welcome2thebronx.com/wordpress/2015/03/02/frida-kahlo-art-garden-life-a-sneak-peak-at-what-to-expect/

 

Frank Rivera Retrospective at MCCC
Topic: ART NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

In March, acclaimed artist Frank Rivera, of Hightstown, will return to his roots at Mercer County Community College (MCCC), where he taught art from 1967 to 2003. “Frank Rivera Retrospective: Selected Works 1945 – 2015” will be on display from Tuesday, March 10 through Thursday, April 2.  The public is invited to an opening reception on Wednesday, March 11, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  The Gallery is located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.

 

According to MCCC Gallery Director Dylan Wolfe, the show will include work from all phases of Rivera’s creative career, which in earlier years featured large-scale abstractions, while in more recent times has focused on smaller narrative pieces inspired by storyboard graphics and computer art.  The exhibit even includes a few pieces preserved from Rivera’s childhood.

Rivera notes in the exhibit’s catalog, “The work…has been arranged by theme and subject rather than by chronology.  It is the persistence of these themes and subjects – not always linear – that has shaped my vision over the decades.”

An MCCC professor emeritus, Rivera is a painter and educator who has lived and worked in Mercer County, NJ, for more than 40 years.  His work has been exhibited prominently in the United States, including exhibits at the Whitney Museum, the Luise Ross Gallery, and the Abington Art Center, as well as numerous venues in Paris, where Rivera regularly spends time painting.  He is a graduate of Yale Art School, with an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rivera’s previous exhibits have drawn glowing reviews. Cathy Vikso, of the Trenton Times, wrote, “There is an iconic quality to his pieces, recalling the carefully wrought panels and religious icons of medieval art.”  Dan Bischoff, of the Newark Star-Ledger, said,” Rivera says [his] paintings are autobiographical, but each [work] seems more like a distillation than a rapidly jotted down memory, and their complexity in such small dimensions is made the more interesting for their visual clarity, though their meanings are often elusive.” Dallas Piotrowski, former curator at the Chapin Gallery, noted, “The paintings of Rivera are for the mind.”

Gallery hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.  More information about this and other exhibits at the MCCC Gallery is available at www.mccc.edu/gallery.  Directions to the campus and a campus map can be found at www.mccc.edu.

 

 

Ghandi Comes To Hamilton

 

By Tammy Duffy

 

 

 

Last evening marked the inaugural art exhibition for a new art gallery in Hamilton, N.J, Studio Shraza.  The art gallery is located at 1800 East State Street, Bld A, Suite 115 at Studio Park. This gallery is owned by S.H. Raza and resembles that of a NYC art gallery.

 

The opening exhibition entitles, History in the Making, is a collaboration between the gallery and the country of India’s photo archives. This is a retrospective of Kulwant Roy. Roy was considered on of India’s most outstanding photojournalists. He spent tireless days of his life documenting some of the rarest moments in the socio political history of India. Some of the rarest photographs ever taken of political meetings are on display in the exhibition. 

 

These photos and  thousands of other images remained forgotten in boxes for over 20 years after the death of Roy in 1984.  These images demonstrate a remarkable photographic record of modern Indian history, which have never been published.  Displayed on the walls are the rare photos, including a 1939 picutre of Ghandi in a heated argument with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the head of India’s Muslim League.  Roy photographed many of Ghandi’s travels and was a major chronicler of the Independence movement. 

 

This gallery is the first of its kind ever to exist in the town of Hamilton, NJ. The gallery is open from 10am to 5pm 7 days a week. 

Beyond Jazz
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

BEYOND JAZZ

 

 

 

 

From March through June, the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) presents the Jazz and Beyond Series concerts. Four of the five concerts in this spring’s series celebrate local performers who are debuting material from new CDs. Each concert is an opportunity to meet the musicians and take home fresh music. The concerts will take place in the intimate setting of the ACP’s Solley Theater at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. Parking is available in the Spring and Hulfish Street Garages and at metered parking spots along Witherspoon Street and Paul Robeson Place. Please call (609) 924-8777 or visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org for more information.

 

Saturday, March 14, 7:30pm: RatioActivity: A Pi Day Concert with Stop Correcting Me

Music infused with rich rhythm and sound, RatioActivity was created by Wilbo Wright and realized by Stop Correcting Me (Wilbo Wright and Eric Haltmeier) to celebrate the calendric alignment with the first five numbers of pi on 3/14/15. (Pi = 3.1415...) The piece is inspired by experiments with rhythmic and intervallic interpretations, super-impositions and repetitions, all derived from the first digits of pi. Math is power! Suggested donation of $3.14

 

Sunday, March 29, 4pm: Keith Franklin CD Release Concert Take Heart

Jazz pianist and composer Keith Franklin celebrates the release of his new CD, Take Heart featuring original compositions with a swinging, hard-hitting ensemble. Take Heart features a wide array of jazz, at times featuring a small and intimate ensemble and tracks featuring a large and lively New Orleans style brass band.
$12 General Admission/$10 ACP members, students & seniors

 

 

Friday, April 24, 8pm: Larry Fuller Trio CD Release Concert Larry Fuller

Jazz composer and pianist Larry Fuller celebrates new music from his latest self-titled release, Larry Fuller. Larry’s new album features pieces that are strongly rooted in the history of jazz. Whether swinging hard, playing delicate and complex ballads, or showcasing the athleticism of burning bop, his performance is always engaging, fresh and dynamic.
$12 General Admission/$10 ACP members, students & seniors

 




Saturday, May 9, 8pm: Tom Tallitsch Sextet CD Release Concert All Together Now

Saxophonist Tom Tallitsch celebrates a CD release concert showcasing the latest compositions off his 6th album, All Together Now. Tallitsch’s compositions provide a range of strong, memorable melodies, hard grooves, soft ballads and a warm sound.

 $12 General Admission/$10 ACP members, students & seniors

 

 

Saturday, June 13, 8pm: Steve Hudson Trio Live! CD Release Concert

Pianist and composer Steve Hudson style embraces the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. The Trio will dive into the music of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Sting and David Bowie in addition to plenty of original music that will keep your head bobbing and feet rocking.

$12 General Admission/$10 ACP members, students & seniors

 

 

 

Tickets to Jazz and Beyond Series concerts are available at the door beginning 30 minutes prior to each show time. For more information please contact Ellen Malavsky at emalavsky@artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777 x110.

The Price Was Right
Topic: FASHION NEWS

The Price Was Right

 

By Tammy Duffy

 

 

 

 

I love estate sales. The ladies of our world who never married have the most wonderful art collections and items that gals like me ooze over. I just obtained this suit from a recent estate sale. The estate sale was that of Virginia McDavid Goodson. This Zang Toi cashmere and fur suit was owned by Virginia McDavid Goodson, purchased for her by her then husband, Mark Goodman. Do these names ring a bell?   Mrs Goodson was Miss Alabama 1953 and 3rd runner up for Miss American in 1954.  She went on to marry Mark Goodman, THE game show producer of The Price Is Right, Matchgame, etc.  Virginia lived a life filled with luxury. This suit if bought new would be several thousand dollars in price. I did not pay that. The cashmere and mink on this is suite are exquisite.  One just feels RICH when you put it on. I paid.......$91.00.  Yep....under $100. A girl just has to feel awesome when you get a deal like this!!!  Virginia is still alive in Birmingham. I now own the suit and its in perfect condition.  Does this make me a beauty queen because it was owned by one? A Gamergirl? Will I feel compelled to bellow, "Come on Down, You are the next contestant on the Price is Right." when I wear it?  The Price was Right for this collector from NJ.

Floors For the Way You Live Transformation About To Happen
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST

Floors For the Way You Live Transformation

About To Happen 

 

 

By Tammy Duffy

 

Photo courtesy of NAIMertz 

 

 

Congoleum products have been an integral part of the American home for decades. Their motto, "Floors For The Way You Live," is one of the most recognized motto’s in the industry. The introduction of vinyl products at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair proved a revolution for Congoleum.  A transformation is about to happen at the retired Congoleum plant, located at 861 Sloan Rd, in Hamilton, NJ.

Congoleum Corp., a manufacturer of vinyl sheet and tile products is among the nation's largest manufacturers of resilient vinyl flooring products, for both commercial and residential markets. Its corporate history includes such industry highlights as the introduction of the first no-wax floor and the first chemically embossed vinyl-sheet floor. Throughout a complex corporate history the Congoleum name has remained a constant.

 

Congoleum hit some troubled times between 1950-68.  They were forced by their competition to expand their line. In 1951, they acquired Delaware Floor Products, Inc., a Wilmington manufacturer of vinyl plastic tile and rolls as well as felt-base floor coverings and also a manufacturer of sheet-vinyl coverings for sinks and counter tops.

 

In 1953, they acquired Sloane-Blabon Corp., another floor-covering maker, for $10.3 million, and in 1955 the equipment and inventories of the fiber-rug division of Patchogue-Plymouth Corp., creating a subsidiary called Loomweve Corp. to manufacture tufted carpeting, woven fiber rugs, and automotive flooring in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

 

The acquisitions were moving Congoleum in the right direction.  The company shifted some of its linoleum production from sheets to squares in order to attract trade from do-it-yourselfers and brought out a linoleum tile with a special base and adhesive for use with concrete-slab construction. However, to meet intense competition from other tile makers the company had to reduce its price for asphalt tiles by 13 percent and for vinyl plastic tiles by 10 percent in 1955, even though this sector of its business was barely profitable.

Shifting emphasis away from linoleum, Congoleum moved its linoleum-making operations from the Kearny plant in 1957 to the former Sloane-Blabon factory in Trenton, New Jersey, retaining part of the Kearny facility to make asphalt and vinyl plastic tile. It installed at Marcus Hook what it called the largest rotogravure press in the world for a new plastic floor covering.

 

 

Based in Mercerville, New Jersey, outside Trenton, Congoleum embarked on a capital-spending program in 1989. One benefit of this program was that the Marcus Hook plant, which in 1987 led all Delaware river valley polluters by pumping more than a million pounds of ozone-destroying compounds into the air, completely eliminated this noxious discharge by switching from hazardous solvents to water in its inks. In 1991, Congoleum announced it would spend between $45 million and $50 million to improve several of its vinyl-flooring plants, with the bulk of the funds used to install new equipment, such as improved ovens and an improved printing system. The company was unable to borrow from banks for these improvements but in 1991 secured a $57.5-million asset-based working-capital line from CIT Group Inc.

Congoleum's net sales declined slightly to $263.1 million in 1995 in what the company attributed to a cyclical downturn in the homebuilding sector, accompanied by rising raw-material prices, and "a sluggish retail environment and higher interest rates." Net income fell to $9.4 million, with earnings negatively affected by a $1.5-million after-tax charge relating to a writeoff of accounts receivable from Color Tile, Inc. which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 1996. Congoleum's long-term debt was $90 million in June 1996.

Congoleum has had difficulties in the most recent years due to changes in consumer spending and asbestos litigation. The flooring plant located at 861 Sloan Avenue ceased operations in late 2014.   This particular facility was closed to consolidate operations to improve efficiencies in an increasingly competitive business environment.

 

It’s the end of an era for Congoleum at 861 Sloan Ave. However, this 65 acre property is up for sale again. A prior real estate deal did not finalize and a new, commercial real estate firm, NAI Mertz, is at the helm to sell the property. They are experts in this field. 

 

The Congoleum property is located within an industrial redevelopment zone,  at 861 Sloan Avenue.  It is a one million square-foot, inter-connected industrial complex, situated on 65 acres. The property offers immediate access to I-295, and is within close proximity of all major regional thoroughfares. It is adjacent to the NJ Transit station providing rail service to New York City, Philadelphia and Trenton.

 

NAI Mertz is a leading commercial and industrial real estate firm in the Greater Philadelphia area with complete real estate services, including commercial, land, industrial, retail, site selection, and investment. 

 

The companies reputation is built on their ability to deliver solid solutions for companies locally, nationally and globally. Whether the need is 3,000 or 3,000,000 square feet, they provide the same level of attention. They are fully engaged to find the right buyer and solution for the transformation of the Congoleum site. Research plays an integral part in near-term decision-making and long-range planning for industrial sites.  NAI Mertz understands the local activity, industry trends.  These are key attributes in understanding the best course of action in industrial investment plans. 

 

 

NAI Mertz is the South Jersey representative for NAI Global and the Industrial and Retail Member representative for Greater Philadelphia. NAI Global is the largest managed network of commercial real estate service providers, comprising 6,700 brokers in 375 offices serving over 55 countries throughout the world. NAI Mertz of PA is the NAI Global representative for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA area and Northeastern Pennsylvania. 

 

A new era is about to begin…….thanks to NAI Mertz.

 

 

Zendaya A True Beauty
Topic: FASHION NEWS

Zendaya, A True Beauty

 

By Tammy Duffy 

 

Zendaya in Vivienne Westwood couture at the 2015 Oscars 

 

The Webster Dictionary's definition of racism is......

 A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various humanracial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.

During an episode of Fashion Police, Guiliana Rancic said,” I feel like she smells like patchouli oil or maybe weed,” when she viewed a photograph taken of the beautiful Zendaya. So, if you read the Webster's definition of racism, do you consider what Rancic said racist?  Does Rancic's comment demonstrate that dreadlocks are a less superior way of style and human representation? 

 

Here are the facts. Zendaya is drop-dread gorgeous and downright gracious. She has handled this negative event that Rancic caused with a level of style and grace that Rancic can only ever dream of having the capability to demonstrate. Rancic can learn alot from the ever beautiful Zendaya.

 Zendaya stated back, saying, “There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful. Someone said something about my hair at the Oscars that left me in awe. Not because I was relishing in rave outfit reviews, but because I was hit with ignorant slurs and pure disrespect.”

 

On the red carpet Zendaya shared why she decided to wear the dreadlocks. She loves her father very much. He has them, as well as others that are close to Zendaya. She wanted to look like them.  An homage to them because she thinks they are cool and she loves them.

Zendaya is a GREAT kid. She has love all around her. If Rancic would have bothered to ask Zendaya or the journalists or photographers who were there, why she chose that look, Rancic would have known. Unfortunately, this is not what E News does. They only judge not journalize. They have become the equivalent to the grocery store newspapers that no one really buys but will take a peek at while they are at check out on occasion. Newspapers riddled with lies and lack of journalism. 

I found it equally offensive that right after she made her statement of "apology" to Zendaya, the E network thought it would be great to show Honeybooboo devouring friend chicken, in essence to make fun of another child again. The poor kid has some massive health issues right now that are quite sad. Kids are off limits.

 

One can only hope that Rancic has learned a lesson. We will see.  Kelly Osbourne's reaction was equally as interesting. She states she is best friends with Zendaya. However when Rancic made that statement initially, Osbourne's first reaction to the comment was to laugh. This is clearly seen on the tape that shows Rancic making the comment. She then appeared to become uncomfortable with the statement on camera after her laughter. But, her first reaction was to laugh. She then got on the "I am not a racist bandwagon" when Zendaya stood up for herself. If Zendaya never said anything, would Osbourne never would have said anything?  Osbourne's comments seem so disingenuous due to the fact she is shown on camera laughing at the comment made by Rancic. If someone said something like that about a friend of mine I would have said something to them right then and there to support my friend. That is a friend. Osbourne did not do that. Her comments came out after Zendaya stood up for herself.

 

 

Rancic can only hope that some day her kids want to emulate her like Zendaya did of her father and friends with her hair style. This is what Rancic should think about before she opens her mouth again.