Video by  Eileen Goldfinger.

Paul and Eileen Goldfinger,, Blogfinger Editors. Set up at our Mt. Hermon Way porch. 6/10/23. Art on The Porch.

We were at our porch to show Paul’s photographs.  He was featuring his black and white silver gelatin  prints, crafted in his darkroom some years ago.  Those analog days are now over as we have switched to digital.

All over town artists were showing their work, especially painters, and they were thrilled to see the visitors who came to love the art works of OG artists, over 50 of them.

It  was a wonderful social event as well: We had visitors to our porch from E. Brunswick, Philadelphia, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Interlaken, Maplewood, Morristown, Colombia (the country not the school,) Ocean, Yardley, Ocean Grove, Lakewood, NYC, Queens, Metuchen, Bethlehem (the town in Pa, not the one with 3 wise men), Montclair, Summit, Marlboro, and others.

No one resisted climbing up the steps to our porch. They had maps and they were trying to visit all  50 sites.

She is a photographer, so we got to talk shop.

We set up our porch like a gallery since our goal was to reproduce what goes on in professional galleries and museums where visitors go from one work to another.  We were not targeting purchases, but at many sites, the artists were promoting sales along with their art, and evidently they did quite well.

Betsy Kaplan and Katy Roessle, the founding mothers of this idea, were roaming around town with their committee members (Doug and Bob)  to make sure all was well.

On Blogfinger we have been talking about cultural shifts in our town with changing  secular demographics, more young people, and a drift away from the Camp Meeting dominance.  This event is important from that point of view, and we hope that those of you who visited the porch galleries will have something to say about these shifting sands in the land of the free and home of the brave.

At the Goldfinger location: the crowds were better than expected, a marker perhaps of OG’s future. All Photos by Paul Goldfinger 6/10/23

At the after-party, artists get together for fun and refreshments.  Bob Ellis (L)  of the porch art team  hosts the event on Asbury Avenue.   Betsy Kaplan is in the middle, as usual.

One drawback is that 50 OG artists couldn’t leave their porches to enjoy the other sites.

This idea was a sort of secular and residential  trial balloon where we-the-people could provide a free event without the lords of the castle telling us what to do.

OG needs more of this–next Saturday is the Blogfinger.net  12th annual Town-Wide-Yard-Sale. Blogfinger@verizon.net

Will Betsy, Katy and the rest of this gang-of-4  pioneers repeat the “Art on the Porch” in 2024?  They offer a resounding “yes” at the happy victory party.

ELVIS: