“ART on the PORCH” June 2024 version. Paul Goldfinger photo display. We had a steady stream of visitors and talk. Conversations add glue to our art exhibits. 6/8/24. Ocean Grove, NJ.
This is George. He is becoming a serious photographer, and we talked about that.
George is going to move to the next level in photography. He admired my work, and we have a similar sensibility. George told me of a new photo show at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton. Eileen and I will go.
Art on the Porch is a grass roots event, the kind that a quality small town needs for cultural nourishment and joy, totally different from the kind of money-driven, tourist- driven events we don’t need when the flea markets and their low brow relatives roll into the Grove and spoil our summer Saturdays. Our town motto should be, “We want visitors, not invaders.”
The Art on the Porch organizers received no help from Neptune Township, the Chamber of Commercials, or the Camp Meeting Association. Instead they conceived of a new citizen-run invention that brought people together today on a lovely June Saturday in our historic shore town. They are heroes for We-the People.
And so many thanks to the “Art on the Porch” Committee.
The event brought a wide variety of arts to be shown on our porches—at our homes. And it did much more than that.
No streets were closed, no parking stresses, no food trucks; just a chance for we Grovers and visitors to enjoy our town and to exchange ideas and conversations with folks who love the porch culture interactions.
The chance to stroll around town was much appreciated. It was the informality of the event that was especially enjoyed.
We met people from Washington, DC, NYC, Trenton, Boston, Manhattan, Hoboken, Manasquan, Asbury Park, Bordentown, North Bergen, Wall, Monroe Twp, Columbus, Colorado, Glen Ridge, Interlaken, Chester, Ocean Twp, Oceanport, Colts Neck, Surf City, Salt Lake City, and more. About 40% were Grovers.
And Eileen and I spoke to most everyone who visited our photography exhibit. There were physicians, scientists, a nutritionist, a pediatric psychologist, an artist, a nurse, and I got to talk with 3 photographers. One just returned from a workshop in Paris. Our event was more than about art, at least for us.
At what flea market could you have such an experience, and if you have kids, a town brimming with culture will cause good memes to permeate all over town.
We had young people, twenty-somethings, come to our photo exhibit. One was carrying a skate board as we talked about my photo of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Falling Water.”
I call those youngsters the “OG Underground” because their presence is growing. But we don’t offer enough culture for them in the Grove.
And quite a few, having just come from the beach, came up on our porch to look at and discuss my photos of Notre Dame, OG’s new pier, the Devil’s Bridge in Tuscany, and how my photographs wound up on the cover of two books. And it wasn’t about money—I sold one photo, and that was without trying.
Even Grover girls in their summer clothes came to our exhibit.
Paul Goldfinger photos.
Eileen and I met people today who were going to change from part time to full time Grovers, and they were so happy to be here.
Having an art exhibit on a porch is not exactly ideal for a variety of reasons, but what it does, which is so important, is to expand our “porch culture” so that everyone who attended today got to enter the homes of quite a few admirable Grovers. Our porches are part of our homes. And that is a unique accomplishment.
And finally, I got to meet some loyal Blogfinger friends, and that is very satisfying because they got to tell me what they like best, and it is exactly what I hoped for: music, photographs, ideas, and even my nick-names like the “Groaners.” No one spoke politics of any sort.
Blogfinger will carry the grassroots idea forward on June 22, 2024, when we will sponsor the 13th edition of the “Blogfinger Town-Wide Yard Sale.”
Our yard sales are social neighborhood events. Very important to promote good will because we talk to each other at our sales. That’s perhaps the best part. And that is also true for Art on the Porch.
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ, USA.
10/12/24: Update.
The “Porchers” have just announced that they will merge their grassroots idea into something bigger and better—or so they say.
Take a look below at the changes which have been announced yesterday for the 3rd edition of Art on the Porch for June 2025:
” The founders sought a partnership with a larger organization, and the Jersey Shore Arts Center was the perfect fit.” They call this “exciting collaboration a seamless match.” But did they forget why the current event is almost perfect as it is?
What will change for this delightful homespun event which we praised above?
The JSAC will offer a 5K run, toilets, parking and a central starting point. Other items will be revealed. Why is this merger a good idea? Will we still have flyers all over town? Will sales be promoted? Will the artists be from Ocean Grove only? Will artists have to pay a fee as before? ($30.00 )
Here is the original concept:
Our Mission: (As publicized by the Porchers earlier this year)
“Art On The Porch is a free, town-wide, walkable gallery of visual art by local artists, utilizing Ocean Grove’s charmed front porches as the gallery walls.
“Art on the Porch is a grassroots effort by resident artists and art enthusiasts motivated to showcase and promote a community of fine artists while highlighting the beauty of Ocean Grove’s historic neighborhoods.”
It seems that the new and improved Art on the Porch event will just bring more people into town that day. Why do we need that?
Below is the “announcement” email that came in yesterday from the “Porchers”. What do you think?
From ” SHOWBOAT:”
Here is suggestion to make Art On The Porch better: Let’s call it: “Town-Wide Art on the Porch Day.” Encourage any Grovers who want to show art that day to do so. Then promote the event as a true “down-home, grass root special day of local art in our town.”
It would be another step in having small town America celebrate itself here in OG. Let’s have fun and jettison the self-importance. Music would be good accompaniment.
Don’t charge any participants a fee. (currently it is $30.00). And, like a yard sale, stay out of the way so that folks can sell their art.
The town would probably charge a $5.00 fee, although the mayor should be petitioned to cancel a fee for that and for our Town Wide Yard Sale.
Cancel the merger with the Jersey Shore Art Center since what they do is totally different from Art on the Porch which is a concept for the Grove to celebrate itself.