It is window dressing at its best in Highland Park on Saturday, September 17. The community’s reputation as an arts showcase will be highlighted during a special Window Art Crawl and Reception, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with the reception at Pino’s starting at 7 p.m. Residents and visitors are invited to stroll downtown Highland Park to admire artwork displayed in many of the local shops. Local artists, from ages 10 to 80 years old, created the art, which will be on display throughout September. Pino’s Wine Shoppe, 14 N. 4th Ave., will host a wine and cheese reception, where guests can speak to some of the participating artists.
“Planning for the Window Art Project and Art Crawl and the Pino’s Reception has been a total hoot! Forty-one artists from ages 10-80 years old have stepped up to grace the windows of 25 businesses along Raritan Ave,” said Arts Commission member John Marron. “Artwork includes sculpture, weaving, sumi-e (ink wash painting), photography, oil, enhanced graphic arts flowers, journal scrapings and spot on watercolor masterpieces! And the reception will include jazz sax, acoustic and salsa music, so we encourage residents and visitors to attend the evening’s events.”
Highland Park has been a hub for artists in Middlesex County and beyond, and holds an annual Arts in the Park juried art show every September – this year on Sunday, Sept. 25 – attracting thousands of artists and visitors to our downtown. The borough also is home to an art gallery and an arts academy and instrument tutoring company, focusing on the classic arts teaching method. This past summer the Highland Park Planning Board helped initiate a partnership between the Rite Aid on Fourth and Raritan Avenues and the Mason Gross School of the Arts to maintain a rotating display of artwork from undergraduate and graduate students, in the nine Rite Aid windows, which were made opaque, when the store was renovated. The art exhibit was a creative solution to a difficult zoning conundrum.
“Highland Park is home to many artistic residents, especially since we are located so close to Rutgers’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Our town benefits from the school’s creative mission, as is evident by our downtown murals, active Arts Commission, and numerous art events throughout the year. We welcome artists to visit, work, and live in our diverse and creative community, and we encourage visitors to come view our artwork,” said Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler.
Main Street Highland Park, the Highland Park Art Collective, and the Highland Park Arts Commission sponsor the Window Art Crawl and Reception. A complete list of participating storefronts and artists is available at www.mainstreethp.org