Visitors to the Arts Council of Princeton this Friday, December 19, get a quadruple dose of regionally produced art with four simultaneous opening receptions for new exhibits taking place from 5 to 7 p.m. All are free and open to the public.
The headlining show is the Arts Council’s 2025 Annual Member Show: “Do You Have a Third Place?” on view in the Taplin Gallery from December 19 through Saturday, January 3. The annual year-end tradition celebrates the creativity, talent, and imagination of the Arts Council’s vibrant member artist community and showcases artwork by more than 100 regional artists working across drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, and more.
Each year, the Member Show invites ACP artists to explore a new theme. For 2025, the Arts Council asks: “Do You Have a Third Place?”
The idea of a “third place” was introduced by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who defines a “third place” as a gathering spot outside of home and work — a café, bar, art club, dog park, library, gym, or even an imaginative refuge, where people go to connect, unwind, and feel part of something larger than themselves. These spaces are accessible, welcoming, unpressured, and often the backdrop for meaningful community connection.
“In Princeton, we see firsthand how essential third places are,” says ACP Artistic Director Maria Evans. “We welcome repeat students, familiar faces at gallery openings, and community members who return week after week to draw, paint, print, chat, and create. Their presence reminds us why we do what we do.”
Through this theme, artists reflect on the spaces real or imagined that anchor them, inspire them, and keep them coming back. The resulting exhibition offers a dynamic and deeply personal exploration of how community spaces shape us and why they matter.
Also on view: The Witherspoon Collective: Advanced Painters from Charles Viera’s Class is on display through January 3 in the Siegal Gallery. The Witherspoon Artists Collective is composed of local artists who have studied painting and drawing at the Arts Council of Princeton, working across oil, acrylic, and pastel. Their work reflects both the high caliber of ACP’s visual arts instruction and the deep creative engagement nurtured within its classrooms.
Charles Viera, ACP teaching artist and curator of the exhibition, shares, “Some of the artists in this exhibition have been studying with me for years, while others come and go as their schedules allow. The unifying theme of this exhibition is that all of these artists are local, they have studied at ACP, and they are all excellent artists who are now being recognized as such. This exhibition highlights the creative growth, skill, and dedication of artists who have found community and artistic momentum through ACP’s programs.”
Artists exhibiting include Si Chang, Paula Huttner, Margaret Kalvar, Luccia Carsky-Wilson, Lori Langsner, Geraldine Shea, Marisa Braccia, Hoke Bullard, Cynthia Butler, Anne Diebel, Jane Goble, Erica McEnery, Jane McCort, and Pam Potenza
Princeton’s Dogoyles by Spring Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Victor Bell will be on view in the Lower Level Gallery from December 19 through January 3. Bell, a Princeton native and devoted dog lover, draws inspiration from the unconditional love rescue animals offer. A love he hopes to reflect back into the world through his work.
From this passion emerged Princeton’s “dogoyles”: whimsical hybrids of dog, dragon, and gargoyle that Bell created for specific small businesses and community gathering spaces throughout town. Just as dogs bring people together as a pack, and shared meals and favorite hangouts unite a community, Bell’s dogoyles symbolize protection, joy, and the magic of belonging.
During the December 19 opening receptions, the Arts Council of Princeton will also celebrate the newest chapter of its beloved community initiative Princeton Sketchbook Club. Now in its third iteration, the Princeton Sketchbook Club invited beginners, seasoned artists, and everyone in between to make their mark. Each participant received the same 8×5” sketchbook, which is a blank slate to fill with drawing, writing, collage, painting, and any form of creative expression that inspires them.
This reception offers an opportunity for participating artists and the public to come together, flip through the finished books, and honor the creativity that will join the Princeton Sketchbook Library, a growing public collection of community-made sketchbooks.
December Opening Receptions, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Friday, December 19, 5 to 7 p.m. Free. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org or 609-924-8777.