press releases

Montclair Cooperative School  65 Chestnut Street  Montclair, NJ 07042
973-783-4955
www.montclaircoop.org

For: Immediate Release
Contact:Jennifer Strikowsky
jstrikowsky@gmail.com

The 39th Annual Art in the Park
At the Montclair Art Museum
May 3 and May 4 from 10 am to 6 pm
Fun for the entire family

Montclair, NJ, April 1, 2008 - The Montclair Cooperative School has announced that the 39th Annual Art in the Park will be held at the Montclair Art Museum May 2 through May 4, 2008. One of the Northeast's premier events for arts and crafts, this year's juried exposition features work by artisans from 13 states and overseas, including sculpture, glass and metal arts, ceramics, fiber arts, fine arts and jewelry. There will be live music, refreshments, and arts and crafts activities for art lovers of all ages, ensuring that this years' event will be a memorable experience.

For the first time in its' nearly 40-year history, Art in the Park will be held at the Montclair Art Museum, creating a partnership between the area's oldest regional art museum and a beloved community art event. Art in the Park is taking place during the Museum's exhibition Tribal Roots in the Garden State, 2008 New Jersey Crafts Annual which is on view in the Museum's Weston Gallery. Exhibitors will display their art both inside the Museum's Leir Hall, as well as outside on the Museum grounds. To learn more about the event and review the artists, please visit www.montclaircoop.org/artinthepark.

Art in the Park will present work from local, national and international artists. Montclair's own Zachary Bloom will show his one-of-a-kind jewelry, and Janet Taylor Pickett and Ira Wagner will present fine art. Gallery 51's Andrew Foster will be showing painting and photography. Jewelers from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Vermont and California will be present, alongside sculptors from Rhode Island and ceramicists from Virginia, Maine and New Jersey. There will be artworks available in all mediums and all price ranges for every sort of taste.

Children's activities include hand-painting and tye-dying t-shirts, beadmaking and stringing, and wooden race-car painting and racing. The Museum's esteemed Education staff will be on hand to guide the art and craft-making. There will be juggling, and a tent for family yoga with special kid and teen sessions. Make your own sundae with Applegate Farms. A family Barbeque sponsored by Whole Foods will take place on Saturday. Live music performances will take place both days, and will feature Montclair's own Parents Who Rock.

Art in the Park is a juried exposition, with a panel of four esteemed jurors: Teresa Blackburn, a Nashville trend spotter and professional stylist whose work can be seen on many national television shows including HGTV, TVFN and DIY; Patti Bleicher, owner of Gallery Loupe, which is a fine jewelry boutique located in Montclair; Lucy Commoner, Senior Textile Conservator and Head of Conversation at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; and Twig Johnson, Curator of Native American Art at the Montclair Art Museum.

Since it began almost 40 years ago, thousands of artists and craft professionals have sold work at the annual Art in the Park. It is a highly anticipated event for the Montclair area and the surrounding communities. Revenues benefit progressive education at The Montclair Cooperative School, a small, private nursery-through-eighth-grade institution that prides itself on its diverse community of learners, and its dedication to the arts.