HCCC Presents “Notes and Tones” Art Exhibition and Live Jazz to Celebrate Groundbreaking Printmaker and Jazz Aficionado Robert Blackburn
January 30, 2019
Opening and closing receptions will include live jazz performances.
January 30, 2019, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) invites the community to experience the immersive blending of visual arts and live jazz performances celebrating innovative printmaker and nationally acclaimed artist Robert Blackburn. HCCC Department of Cultural Affairs kicks off its 2019 Spring season with the “Notes and Tones: Jazz Influences on the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop” exhibition, which opens on Tuesday, January 29 and runs through March 1. The events will be held at the Dineen Hull Gallery located at 71 Sip Avenue in Jersey City.
The exhibition coincides with the College’s annual Georgia Brooks celebration. Highlights include a live hot-jazz performance featuring The Ladybugs during the Opening Reception on Tuesday, February 5 from 5 – 7 p.m.; the performance will be recorded and broadcast by WBGO. Jersey City masking tape artist Kayt Hester will also create a live mural installation in the Dineen Hull Atrium at the exhibition opening. The Closing Reception on March 1, which is also “JC Fridays,” will feature a jazz performance from “Thinking in Full Color” alumna and songstress Audrey Martells who will be accompanied by Belden Bullock on bass.
The “Notes and Tones” exhibition is a themed compilation of prints created by nationally recognized artists. The exhibition is in partnership with the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, a program of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts.
Blackburn held similar ideologies to the local jazz communities of the late 1960s. This indie spirit glistens through the jazz-inspired exhibition curated by Essye Klempner. The exhibition features stunning works such as “And Still I Rise,” a portrait of poet Maya Angelou by Otto Neals. Also included are works by Blackburn, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Camille Billops, Willie Birch, Betty Blayton, Kay Brown, Vivian Browne, Mel Edwards, Maren Hassinger, Robin Holder, Dindga McCannon, Mavis Pusey, Vernal Reuben, Betye Saar, Vincent Smith, Mildred Thompson, and Michael Kelly Williams.
The EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in New York City opened in 2005 as a cooperative printmaking workspace modeled after the original that Blackburn operated from 1948 to 2001. The program inspires and fosters a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse artistic community dedicated to crafting fine art prints in an environment that embraces technical and aesthetic exploration, innovation and collaboration. From its beginning with one lithography press, Blackburn’s workshop was shared with artist-printmakers. New techniques were pioneered with artists such as Will Barnet, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden throughout the 1950s. Blackburn also collaborated with and introduced printmaking to artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell.
The exhibition will also include a closer look at community partner WBGO, a celebrated nonprofit national radio station based in of Newark, NJ. Founded in 1979, WBGO is a publicly supported cultural institution that preserves and elevates America’s music: jazz and blues. The station reaches a weekly audience of more than 400,000 in the New York/New Jersey metro area via 88.3FM. WBGO seeks to educate, entertain and inspire the public by providing access and opportunity to engage with the highest quality, curated jazz and blues programming produced in the jazz capital of the world.
The HCCC Department of Cultural Affairs’ 2019 Spring calendar of events features an array of visual and performing artists, exhibitions, and programs. They include ice sculpting, literature, yoga, art history, poetry and prose, folkloric dance, and more.
The HCCC Department of Cultural Affairs welcomes Hudson County community members, organizations, businesses, and school groups to enjoy its cultural programs at the College. Groups of 6 to 30 visitors are invited to free 45-minute tours of the current exhibition. To schedule a tour, contact HCCC Cultural Affairs Director Michelle Vitale at mvitaleFREEHUDSONCOUNTYCOMMUNITYCOLLEGE.
The Dineen Hull Gallery is located at 71 Sip Avenue, sixth floor, and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. More information is available at https://www.hccc.edu/community/arts/index.html.