Polish native and Trenton artist Ryszard Druch’s self-caricature.
By Dan Aubrey
Few would suspect that Druch’s Studio, the small storefront building at 920 Brunswick Ave. in Trenton’s North Ward, is a center for Trenton’s Polish arts community, one that has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Founder and Polish native Ryszard (Richard) Druch, 62, says that he came to this small Trenton enclave of Polish immigrants two decades ago and sculpted a life.
“In 2001 I bought this small house,” he said, gesturing to the railroad-styled room. “In 2003 after remodeling it, I could start Druch Studio Gallery. I started my new business like an art school.”
Druch said he leads art classes for three age groups on a regular basis: one for for children ages 6–10, one for teens and one for adults. There are also informal opportunities to practice art, including the weekly Friday, open painting studio from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. with a live model, as well as “arts events and openings, concert series, poetry readings, and organized art salons.”
The sessions, he says, provide something for both participants and community members.
“This area has a poor, old Polish immigrant area, and other immigrants from Eastern Europe — Russian, Lithuanian, and Czech. Every Friday a couple people come and see what we do through the window. This area is not intellectual, very hard working people. I am very happy that these people are interested.”
Druch was born in Poland in 1952, and graduated from the high school of fine arts. After that he graduated from Opole University, which is located between Krakow and Breslau. In college, he trained as a history teacher.
The artist came to the United States in 1991 to join his wife, who had arrived several years earlier.
“In 1980s the situation in Poland was poor,” he said. “My wife said, ‘I have a friend in Connecticut and I should try (to find a job).’ She won a green card. After five years, I moved from Poland to the United States. I came to Trenton. We had a friend here. He said, ‘Listen. It’s a big Polish area and community, and you can find a job very easily.’ Twenty years ago it was much better for immigrants than it is today.”
His first days in Trenton, however, were not easy. He was 40 years old and spoke Polish and Russian, but not English. He started out as a commercial painter, then worked a few months as a roofer. From that he moved on to delivering pizzas.
“I had many, many professions in my first years in the U.S.,” he said.
He went to Mercer County Community College to learn English. Finally in 2003 he began “life as an art gallery owner — a principal in an academy of fine art,” he said.
Over the years he has created logos, business cards, and lettering for the Polish area.
“I combine many things. Life changes. Things are different. Ten years ago I made a lot of money with signs for a Polish constructor. Then it stopped,” he said. Life changes also included the death of his wife in 1999 (of breast cancer) and the move of his computer programmer son (Bart) to New Haven, Conn.
Throughout, though, has been an interest in art. Part of that interest comes from a legendary Polish sculptor who is a distant family member, another from an unusual situation. “I lived for six years in this castle,” he says showing a photo of Moszna, a massive, ornate 17th-century stone building. It was owned by influential families until World War II, when the Soviet Union took control of Poland and turned the building into a school where Druch’s father taught agricultural science.
“I think my artistic skills were established inside this castle. Every day I could see sculptures and furniture, many things. Like a king’s palace, you know,” he said.
Druch followed his arts interest to the high school of fine arts, a vocational school with fine arts training. “We had art classes with sculpture and painting, many different art classes. Then in 1986, 10 years after my university diploma, I became a member of the Polish caricature association in Warsaw. It means in Poland that I was a professional caricaturist. I specialize in caricature satirical drawings,” he said. The works are a subject of a book in process and to be printed in Poland.
While caricatures are one his main interests and are part of a book of his, he also uses an image and theme that is distinctly American: Native Americans. “In Poland, I read a lot about American Indian,” he said.
One of his Native American paintings is also the source of a distinctly American tale, one that brings him unexpected joy.
“I painted an Indian on the back of my car, and the car was stolen when I parked to see a friend on Olden Avenue in Trenton. A few days later I got a call from the police that the car was found. I went to recover and saw that the trunk with the picture removed. I was very happy. It’s a good situation for an artist to have a picture stolen,” he said.
Looking out the window of his studio, Druch said, “(This part of Trenton is) not a section for art. I am the only gallery on this street. Someone told me, ‘Jesus Christ, an art gallery in this area!’ But it is my profession. I love painting. I have to do this. When I organize a painting exhibition, it’s not a big deal, but I like it. I can’t live without it. I make and sell portraits. It’s very important, like a gift.”
Druch Studio, 920 Brunswick Ave., Trenton. (609) 532-3676 or druchstudio.com.
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