CAPE MAY TALENT SHOW MONDAY AUG. 7 AT CONVENTION HALL

"Hotel and Guest Night” is a Cape May tradition that dates back to the 1940s. In the ‘40s and ‘50s, hotel staff and guests came together to entertain each other in an annual talent show. Three Cape May arts organizations are now in their sixth year of joining together to revive this community event, which last year was “standing room only.” Professional performers join with serious amateurs and the blatantly amateur to celebrate our creative community and raise funds for a good cause. And it’s not too late for you, dear reader, to become one of the performers!

This year’s Hotel and Guest Night is Monday, August 7, at 8:15 p.m., at Convention Hall on Beach Drive at Stockton Place. Admission is free, and all performers volunteer their time. A goodwill offering will benefit the Franklin Street School Rehabilitation Project. John Alvarez, of Cape May Stage, will again emcee the evening.

The evening will include a taste of Cape May Stage’s “The Big Bang,” excerpts from the Starlight Steppers’ “Golden Age of Vaudeville,” Cape May Idol winner Zachary van Mourik, local celebrity Shirley Stiles, a song by Kelsey Moore, and songs by The Merry MACs, Victorian ladies a capella.

There is room on the bill for another act or three, so call Center for Community Arts at 884-7525 to claim your slot now! Past performances have included song, dance, instrumental music, storytelling, poetry reading, theater and comedy. Performances should be under five minutes each.

The event is co-sponsored by Cape May Stage, the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Center for Community Arts, all of which receive support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and many generous foundations, businesses, and individuals.

Center for Community Arts offers one-shot Plein Air art classes five times a week (students are welcome to come back again and again).

Oil Painting with Jen Kilfara is on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (3 hrs each), Sunset Oil Pastels with Shannon Sterner is Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m., and Sunset Soft Pastels with Cheryl Crews is Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. The sunset classes change to 6 pm starting times in August.

All meet at Cape May Point State Park (the Lighthouse), in the first parking lot on the left (outside the main gate). Be sure to park there--the gate closes at dusk!

For information call 884-7525.

Below are photos from the morning session on Saturday, July 15, 2006. (All photos taken by S. Bacher.)






Above: Steve Frates.


Below: Joel Bacher and Jen Kilfara.








Above and below, Steve Frates.




Below, Joel Bacher and Jen Kilfara.








Above, Jen Kilfara and Steve Frates. Below, Steve Frates.

Plein Air Oil Painting class meets Saturday July 15 at 9:30 am, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm at Cape May Point State Park (the Lighthouse). Park in the first lot, on your left, outside the gate. Meet teacher Jen Kilfara there, or there will be a big sign in her windshield indicating where to meet her. No preregistration is needed; all supplies provided. Price per class is $20 general, $10 age 65+, with $5 off for CCA members. You can pay Jen, including membership, if you like.

The Center for Community Arts Community History Program and efforts to preserve Franklin Street School were the subject of a "History Hunters" segment on the NJN Television (and radio) news on 7/10/06.

You can view the segment in the archives section of the NJN website. Click on http://www.njn.net/newspublicaffairs/historyhunters/ and then scroll towards the bottom of the page for the link to the Franklin Street School video.

Our thanks to producer Peggy George, reporter Marie DeNoia, and videographer Frank Foley for a job well done!

Plein Air Oil Painting class meets Saturday July 8 at 9:30 am, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm at Cape May Point State Park (the Lighthouse). Park in the first lot, on your left, outside the gate. Meet teacher Jen Kilfara there, or there will be a big sign in her windshield indicating where to meet her. No preregistration is needed; all supplies provided. Price per class is $20 general, $10 age 65+, with $5 off for CCA members. You can pay Jen, including membership, if you like.

SEASHORE-THEMED ART CLASSES FOR ADULTS IN CAPE MAY

Jody Swope offers the Seascape Art Studio each Monday morning at Cape May City Elementary School from 9:00 a.m. – noon, as part of the Center for Community Arts summer series for adults. No experience is necessary, and all supplies are provided. Swope’s workshop celebrates the gifts of the sea, and provides instruction to create objects of art that incorporate shells, driftwood, and more into mobiles, garden art, mosaics and sea-adorned furnishings.

Jody Swope’s art work has been exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and in galleries throughout Philadelphia. She is one of several professional artists teaching classes for adults this summer through the Center for Community Arts. Other offerings include Swope’s Wednesday morning “Quotable Art” workshop, in which collage, painting and small objects combine to create a foundation for an inspiring quote or poem; Plein Air workshops at the Cape May Lighthouse in pastels on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., and in oil painting Saturdays at 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.; Photography Walks, Saturdays at 10 a.m., Silk Painting at the Cape May Nature Center, Thursdays at 7 p.m., and Dance and Stretch at the Franklin Street Civic Center, Mondays at 7 p.m.

CCA also offers more in-depth study in Watercolor Painting and Watercolor Illustration, and free community workshops for all ages in tile making and glazing. For details, please call 884-7525.

Center for Community Arts, celebrating eleven years of community building through the arts and humanities, is a multicultural educational organization whose arts and humanities programs foster creativity, community building and appreciation for the rich diversity of our world. These programs are made possible in part by grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, Lower Cape Alliance, and many generous businesses and individuals.

COMMUNITY INVITED TO CREATE TILES FOR MURAL

West Cape May artist, Susan Ross, will lead 32 tile-making and glazing workshops beginning July 5 and continuing through August. Tiles made in the workshops will become part of a large mosaic of Ross’ design, depicting Cape Island, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Delaware Bay. The mural will adorn the entrance hall to the Franklin Street School Community Cultural Center, scheduled to open in 2008 under the auspices of the Center for Community Arts.

The workshops are free and open to adults and children ages ten and up. They are most Wednesdays and Thursdays at Cape May City Elementary School, and Fridays July 14, 21, 28 and August 11 at the Nature Center of Cape May, from 10 a.m. – noon, and Tuesdays July 11- August 15 at Ross’ Studio in West Cape May, evenings from 7 – 9 pm. There will also be three workshops at the Franklin Street School Gym, August 17, 22 and 24, from 10 a.m. – noon.

Ross will teach the mechanics of making clay tiles, including rolling wet clay into slabs, cutting the slabs into tiles, and decorating and finishing tiles for firing.

Susan Ross is a founding member of Center for Community Arts, and has taught tilemaking in CCA’s Youth Arts Program (YAP). A former school teacher, she fell in love with pottery as a young adult and has worked full-time as an artist ever since. She teaches summer clay classes for youth, and year-round classes for adults in her West Cape May Studio. Her work can be found in private collections, and in fine shops and galleries. In 1998, Ross earned a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Center for Community Arts programs and this residency with Ross are supported by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and many generous businesses and individuals.

For more information, please call 884-7525. Also scroll down for flyer with calendar showing workshop dates, times and locations.