UNION, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders will recognize local artists and present awards at a reception on Wednesday, May 8, at the 12th Annual Exhibit and Contest for County of Union Employees and Their Families. The free reception and awards ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Elizabethtown Gas Company, located in the Liberty Hall Center, 1085 Morris Avenue in Union.
“This show offers a chance for our Union County employees and family members to shine,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, liaison to the Union County Cultural and Heritage Programs Advisory Board. “The artwork that they do in their spare time is outstanding, and we are proud to display it in the beautiful atrium space of the Liberty Hall Center. We are grateful to Elizabethtown Gas for hosting the program, and to the National Arts Program Foundation for funding the prize awards.”
Presented in partnership with the National Arts Program®, the exhibit will be open weekdays from May 8 to May 28, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The Freeholders share the goal of the National Arts Program Foundation to reach as many people as possible of all ages, offering them a chance to show their creations,” said Freeholder Chairman Linda Carter. “We invite you to view this exhibit of exceptional artwork at the Liberty Hall Center during the month of May.”
The art exhibit will be judged by three prominent artists and arts administrators: Rachael Faillace, Frank Falotico and Barbara Wallace.
Rachael Faillace is executive director of Rahway Arts District, Inc. She is also an artist and independent curator. Rachael has curated more than 25 exhibitions to date and coordinated more than 50 shows as a gallery administrator. As an artist, she has exhibited at numerous notable galleries and universities in the tri-state area, most recently in The Garden Statement Project at Kean University in Union. She has a Master of Fine Art degree from Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design.
Frank Falotico is the Director of the duCret School of Art in Plainfield. Mr. Falotico has a B.A. in Fine Art from Monmouth College, is a graduate of the duCret School of Art and studied at the Art Students League in New York. He has exhibited his paintings in numerous shows in New Jersey and New York including the Swain Galleries in Plainfield, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Rutgers University, and the Salmagundi Club in New York City.
Barbara Wallace began her artistic training at the Art Students League of New York. She received her BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and her MFA in Sculpture from the University of Pennsylvania. Wallace is an Adjunct Professor at Kean University and Passaic County Community College. She has been honored to be a participant in the 2013 Emerge 11 at the Aljira Gallery in Newark. Her upcoming exhibitions will be at the Arsenal Gallery in Manhattan; the Pearl Street Gallery in the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Elizabeth; and the Bloomfield College Gallery.
The National Arts Program® is in its 31st year and runs 91 annual programs reaching 450 cities in 42 states. The program was conceived by Leonard E.B. Andrews (1925 – 2009), an art collector, publisher, business executive and journalist “for the encouragement and development of artistic expression.” The goal of the National Arts Program® is to provide an uninhibited opportunity for people to present their talent, at whatever level, in a free, public exhibition. The National Arts Program® is sponsored by The National Arts Program Foundation of Malvern, Pennsylvania. To learn more about the program, visit www.thenationalartsprogram.org.
Additional support for this event is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth NJ 07202. Telephone (908) 558-2550 or e-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org. NJ relay users dial 711.
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