It has been quite some time since Project Studios produced a group exhibition. The most recent one occurred all the way back in 2019 at Neumann Leathers in Hoboken. The 2024 Project Studios Fall Exhibition took place during the 35th annual Jersey City Art & Studio Tour, October 4 through 6 at Project Studios Jersey City. The new location is at 98 Forrest Street in the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood.
Our 3rd Floor facility was open all three days of JCAST for a reception and soft-launch. Additionally, it was open by appointment until October 13.
Raul Gomez
The exhibition featured work by more than 50 visual artists and designers who call Project Studios their creative home. Work in painting, drawing, sculpture, functional ceramics, and design in a wide variety of media was represented.
Project Studios Jersey City is the first new location of the company after nearly 20 years of operation. Perhaps most important, it is the new home of our Metal Sculpture Studio. Also, there are several private and semi-private studios for visual artists, storage, a dedicated freight elevator, and rooftop access. What’s more, a vinyl lounge and art-book library are coming soon.
Our Hoboken location houses about 50 individual studios for working visual artists and designers. It operates as an art center in 33,000 sq. ft. of former factory space. Our Clay Studio has about 100 monthly members, while our Pro Clay studio provides a dedicated workspace for our most ambitious ceramic artists. Many of the artists that use our studios are local to Hoboken and Jersey City, but many travel from New York and beyond. This might be because our studio shops have equipment typically only found in a university setting, or it might be simply a lack of available workspace.
Installation view including three paintings by Matilda Forsberg
The concept
At first, The exhibition arose from a desire to present the work of our tenants and members in a gallery setting. It is so much more satisfying to view work in this way. Conversely, the ubiquitous annual studio tour just doesn’t measure up. While we will continue to participate in tours, we feel a gallery show is a much more professional destination for the work. Because, it’s kind of what it’s all about, really.
The show was co-curated by Jillian Van Volkenburgh and Nick De Pirro with the simple goal of including all interested Project Studios artists, while also showcasing the new space.
In other words, we not only celebrated the creative output of our studio community, but also opened the new facility in Jersey City to the public for the first time.
Due to the success of this exhibition, Project Studios will also be adding a new gallery space in Hoboken this year. It seems space of this type is in short supply. For example, at the time of this post’s writing, there are only two art galleries left in Hoboken. Additionally, a space like this will allow our artists to curate their own shows, as well as install work for studio visits or critiques.
Furthermore, as the Jersey City location matures, it is likely that Project Studios will maintain exhibition space on-site for future exhibitions and events there as well.
Drawing and Painting
Our diverse group of artists at Project Studios has a wide range of individual styles, media, and levels of experience, therefore a group show of this kind is by its nature, not thematic. This show was more of a snapshot of a moment of artistic output. We as curators simply asked for the work, and then constructed the show.
The Project Studios Fall Exhibition featured drawings and paintings by: Raul F Bustos, Ginny Casey, Kyle Coniglio, Nicholas Cueva, Jody Davis, Matilda Forsberg, Amela Kazazovic, Kierrah Kelly, Jimena Lopez Miquelarena, Jorge Morales, Patricia Patzi, , Lauren Rismiller, Corey Robinson, Elizabeth Schafer, Tenzing Tsakorbaro, Alexa Ramirez, Rob Ventura, Joseph Vick, and Jillian Van Volkenburgh.
The following images are a selection of two-dimensional works by these artists, photographed at 98 Forrest Street. Let’s go!
Tenzing Tsakorbaro
Corey Robinson
Corey Robinson
Patricia Patzi
Kyle Coniglio
Kyle Coniglio
Ginny Casey
Raul F Bustos
Jillian Van Volkenburgh
Jody Davis
Alexa Ramirez
Nicholas Cueva
Amela Kazazovic
Kierrah Kelly
Rob Ventura
Elizabeth Schafer
Jorge Morales
Lauren Rismiller
Lauren Rismiller
Work by Joseph Vick, Elizabeth Schafer, and Jorge Morales
In addition to these works, the exhibition also contained a significant amount of sculpture, three-dimensional design, and functional ceramics, which will be illustrated in part two of this post.
