In June 2015, I was thrilled to be part of an interesting community art project: Jersey Collective. Each week, a different artist takes over the Jersey Collective feed on instagram and gives everyone a glimpse of their New Jersey. In December 2016, I participated again! For me, it was a very different experience to try and show my NJ now that I lived there again. If I did this project again, now, I wonder how it will have changed for me?
I'm thinking about Jersey Collective today bc it marks the opening of their Third Year Show! Each year they have had a gallery show featuring one photo from each artist and week of the year long project. 52 artists, 52 photos. Each year the show is held in a different gallery or community space, and open to the public. Here is the info for this year's opening:
Opening reception with the artists:
Saturday, November 4, 2017
7:00-10:00 pm
South Amboy YMCA
200 John T. O'Leary Blvd
South Amboy, NJ 08879
I'm not sure how long the show runs, but I highly suggest that if you are in NJ or close, you check out both the instagram and the show. I'm also not sure which photo from my week in December of 2016 is featured. Here are my images from 2016:
@art_poca is the next New Jerseyian to shoot for JC after me in Dec 2016.
And 2015:
The top left image is the next participant's. The bottom right, the rooster, was the image that was chosen for that year's show.
If you are from NJ I hope that you will reach out to Jersey Collective and shoot a week! For me, it was a really lovely process and it would be lovely to hear what readers of my blog think.
For those not from NJ, do you have community projects in your area? Have you participated?