This Land Is Your Land
The D&R Greenway Land Trust will host the Garden State Watercolor Society (GSWS) for its 55th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, “This Land is Your Land.”
This exhibition, GSWS’ largest of the year, is on display at D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Johnson Education Center through January 4, 2026, as well as online at www.gswcs.org. The public is invited to visit the art galleries weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. An opening reception and awards ceremony takes place Friday, October 3, from to 7 p.m. RSVPs are required at www.drgreenway.org.
Eighty-three GSWS artists explored and illustrated their personal interpretations of the theme from the iconic folk song. Written by Woody Guthrie in 1940, it reflects both the beauty and hardships of America’s local landscape and people. Whether figurative or abstract, realistic or fanciful, their art will inspire and cause the viewers to pause and reflect on America’s land, water, its diverse inhabitants and ecosystems.
The 69 paintings accepted were from a larger pool of 114 paintings submitted. The juror for acceptance and awards was Mark Oliver.
A unique display upon entering the Johnson Education Center lobby will be GSWS’ 7th Annual Art Installation. While the main exhibition in the upstairs galleries celebrates the American landscape, this year’s wall installation honors the people who live here. Taking inspiration from the first words of the U.S. Constitution, “We the People… Portraits of Us,” the art installation can be viewed as a collective self-portrait of our nation. A powerful mosaic built from 52 individual portraits, each is a testament to the diverse backgrounds and shared experiences that define us. Created by 40 artists, the installation reminds us that the nation is shaped by its people. Our care for it is a reflection of our care for one another.
In conjunction with the exhibit, GSWS and D&R Greenway will sponsor Fantastic Ekphrastic Poetry workshops, led by renowned local poets Lois Harrad, Maxine Susman, and Jeff Hoagland. The workshops will culminate in a poetry reading.
Ekphrastic poetry is a literary device where a poem describes and responds to a work of visual art. In this case, the paintings are from the GSWS exhibit. By engaging with art through words, it will explore the exhibit in symbolism and the poet’s own emotional response to the artwork. Participants will learn about poetry writing and create their own ekphrastic poetry. The opportunity to register for these three workshops is to be announced.
The schedule of workshops isLois Harrod, poet, Thursday, October 9, 6 to 7:30 p.m.; Maxine Susman, Thursday, October 23, 2 to 3:30 p.m.; and Jeff Hoagland, Sunday, November 2, 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Several poems will be selected from the workshops to be read at a public Poetry Reading scheduled for Sunday, December 7, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. No registration will be required for this event.
GSWS will also host a future Zoom Artist Talk event with D&R Greenway Land Trust on a date to be announced. Award-winning artists in the exhibition will discuss their work. It will include a discussion about native plants by the NJ Natural Lands Trust.
Visit www.drgreenway.org to learn more or register for events.
Painting Life
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart hosts the fall exhibit “Painting Life” by Princeton native and Canadian figurative painter Alison Kruse in the Considine Gallery, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 4, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The exhibit remains on view through Thursday, November 20.
Kruse, a two-time Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant recipient and recent participant in the Turps Residency Program in London, creates work rooted in truth and lived experience, exploring the interplay of memory, place, and emotion. Each painting aims to recreate a specific tone or feeling. The exhibition, featuring her piece “NJ,” invites viewers into an honest and sensory record of observation and reflection.
A statement on the Stuart website describes her process as “intuitive and fast-paced, often guided by music, allowing the work to unfold with emotional clarity. She combines drawing, painting, and material experimentation to approach each piece as a visual journal entry. . . . This allows her to engage with both her internal world and external surroundings, mapping the ways they mirror, challenge, and inform each other. Driven by curiosity and a commitment to truth, she strives to be honest with herself, with her materials, and with the world around her.”
Visit stuartschool.org/arts/galleries to learn more.
Happiness Is
The Present Day Club at 72 Stockton Street presents a solo art show by Helene Mazur titled “Happiness Is.” A reception takes place Friday, October 3, from 5 to 7 p.m., with additional viewing hours on remaining Fridays in October from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mazur’s oil and acrylic paintings aim to capture the vibrant colors, light, and energy of place. Her landscapes and still lives have been described as “engaging and colorful, featuring rich textures and lyrical brushwork.” “Happiness Is” features a number of paintings created in the past year.
