Eight New Exhibits Bring a Colorful Start to 2026

Garden State Watercolor Society: Honoring Robert Sakson

The Garden State Watercolor Society (GSWS) honors artist Bob Sakson in a special showing of his art at D&R Greenway Land Trust, from through Wednesday, February 4. Sakson (1938-2020) was a celebrated New Jersey watercolor artist and teacher, an emeritus member of GSWS, and a Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society. Known for en plein air realism, Sakson spent his life capturing the beauty of New Jersey in scenic landscapes or historical sites.

This exhibition continues to showcase his paintings of familiar and timeless scenes: Allentown and historic Walnford (Monmouth County Park), Cassville, Colliers Mill, Lambertville, Mount Airy, Stockton, Titusville, Washington Crossing, several South Jersey shore scenes, as well as Churchtown, Pennsylvania.

A reception takes place Sunday, January 11, from 2 to 4 p.m.

The 36 original works were donated by Carla Sakson to GSWS to honor her late husband. The paintings are mostly unmatted and unframed, at sizes of 18×20 inches and larger. Sales from the show are to benefit both nonprofits: 65 percent will fund future GSWS artist awards in honor of Sakson, and 35 percent will support D&R Greenway Land Trust in their mission of preservation and care for the land and to inspire a conservation ethic.

Bob Sakson Exhibit, Garden State Watercolor Society, D&R Greenway Land Trust, One Preservation Place, Princeton. Opening reception Sunday, January 11, 2 to 4 p.m. Gallery hours weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On view through February 4. Free. www.drgeenway.org or 609-924-4646.

Gallery 14: Annual Juried Exhibition

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography hosts its 2026 Juried Exhibition from Sunday, January 11, through Sunday, February 1. This year’s exhibition features 52 images by 37 artists. Images were selected from more than 300 submitted works. The exhibition runs from January 11 to February 1, 2026.

Images were selected by a jury of three photographers:

David Ackerman, award-winning landscape, waterscape and skyscape photographer, travels widely and exhibits in galleries, museums, and private collections. A career physicist, he designed cameras, lenses, image sensors and methods of image analysis. Ackerman runs Ackerman PhotoWorks and has been a member of Gallery 14 for 10 years.

David Cicconi, award-winning director of photography and creative director has helmed creative teams at Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and Epicurious. Currently, he is director of photography and video at Wonder, a food/tech startup. Previously, Cicconi also ran his own creative studio for clients including Smirnoff and Unilever.

Gerardo Puglia, international cinematographer, is the recipient of two Emmys and a Peabody, along with two qualified Academy Award entries. He has worked as director of photography for a myriad of film and television entities, including BBC, PBS, CBS, National Geographic, RAI (Italian TV), Imagine Entertainment, and Warner Brothers.

Featured artists for the exhibition are Michael Alfano, Anita Bhala, Frank Brochin, Jacqueline Burke, Dave Burwell, Graciela Caldero, John Clarke, Patrick Compagnucci, Bob Debski, Karen Fought, Janet Geissler, Barry Good, Ralph Greene, Linda Heath, Charmaine Hofmann, Nils Huehnergarth, Dafydd Jones, Lynne Kerr, Stefanie Lomax, George Mattei, Jessica Murga, Michelle Nickerson, Elvira Peretsman, Howard Pohl, Don Polzo, Susan Powell, Sue Ann Rainey, Brad Rank, Susan Sherman, Leonid Slutsker, Richard Snyder, Richard Van Fleet, Sharie Verdu, Samuel Vovsi, Natasha Zaleski, and Robert Zurfluh.

Founded in 2001, Gallery 14 is a cooperative fine art photography gallery dedicated to exploring and promoting photography as an art form.

Annual Juried Exhibition, Gallery 14, 14 Mercer Street, Hopewell. Gallery hours Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment by contacting galleryfourteen@yahoo.com. www.gallery14.org.

Arts Council of Princeton

Three exhibits open at the Arts Council of Princeton on Saturday, January 10, with receptions from 3 to 5 p.m. All three remain on view through Saturday, February 7.

Artists Jennifer Martin, George Taylor, and Ben Pranger explore material, memory, and identity in “Divergent Forms,” on view in the Taplin Gallery.

Each artist demonstrates a deep sensitivity to how form can carry memory, presence, and traces of lived experience.

Jennifer Martin’s ceramic vessels draw from the physicality of the human body and the histories it holds. She creates human-scale forms marked by asymmetry, touch, and accumulation. Lines, impressions, and exposed clay surfaces function like records of memory, transforming the vessel from an object of use into one of reflection and embodiment.

George Taylor presents slab-built ceramic bottles and panels that act as supports for figurative imagery. His work has evolved from self-portraiture toward more universal representations of the body, often depicted from the back or side. Through line, color, and geometry, Taylor’s work addresses belonging, marginalization, and visibility, asserting the figure — and the artist’s presence — within the broader cultural landscape.

Ben Pranger’s wall-based constructions are built incrementally from wooden elements, following simple structural rules. The resulting forms range from open, linear pathways to compact, architectural configurations. Through repetition, rhythm, and the addition of color and pattern, Pranger’s work exists between sculpture and painting, mapping recursive mental and spatial processes that invite viewers to move across and through the work visually.

On view in the Siegal Gallery is “Art for Change” by Terrance Cummings. Cummings explores the power of art to provoke contemplation, foster conversation, and inspire social transformation. His work engages themes rooted in human emotion, societal structures, ingrained belief systems, and economic marginalization. While race and class are recurring subjects, Cummings centers his practice on shared humanity, creating work that challenges perceptions and encourages introspection. Through this exhibition, he invites viewers to consider art as a catalyst for connection, community, and cultural dialogue.

“Hands Talk” by Debbie Gibbs is on view in the Lower Level Gallery January. The mixed media exhibition examines the expressive and symbolic power of hands. Using paper and acrylic on stretched canvas, Gibbs explores communication through gestures, sign language, and imagery that speaks to both connection and restriction. Racially diverse hands throughout the exhibition emphasize both the beauty and complexity of communication across difference. Created during a time of increasing limitations on rights and freedoms, Hands Talk aims to raise awareness, encourage multicultural engagement, and remind viewers of the grace, strength, and agency found in their own hands.

Three Exhibits, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Opening receptions Saturday, January 10, 3 to 5 p.m. On view through February 7. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org or 609-924-8777.

West Windsor Arts: Not Afraid Art Show

West Windsor Arts has partnered with the nonprofit Art Against Racism for “Not Afraid,” a juried exhibition of work that empowers artists to explore the intersection of identity and culture. An opening reception takes place Friday, January 9, at 7 p.m. for the exhibit on view through Saturday, February 28.

“In a time of restlessness, fear, power imbalances, injustices, and acts of hate across the globe, there’s nothing more important than the power of community and the fearlessness to be true to who you are,” reads a statement on the exhibit.

“Not Afraid takes inspiration from black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the artistic leadership of Passage Theater Company in Trenton to encourage artists to consider the strength and resilience of humanity and what it truly means to be bold, be brave, and be authentically yourself.”

Participating artists include Zakia Ahmed, Sejal Ashar, Medha Atre-Kulkarni, Bettina, Seema Bhattacharjee, Robin Brownfield, Tom Chiola, Daisy Cohen, Susanne Pitak Davis, James Dupree, E. Escobar, Irene Freeman, Debbie Gibbs, Nalini Goel, Spriha Gupta, Destiny Hankerson, Susan Hoenig, Shaily Jha Studios, Sharon Joag, Joshua Kramb, Eleni Litt, Artist LoMo, MC, Amparo Pikarsky, Pam Potenza, Felicia L. Reed, Tehyla Richman, Sheri Roseman, Rupa Sanbui, Paulette Saunders, Anne Helena Stephen, Barbara Weinfield, and Jennifer Wright.

The juror for the exhibit was Claudio Mir, a performance artist, photographer, musician, and writer, who earned bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts degrees from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers.

Not Afraid, West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor. Opening reception Friday, January 9, 7 p.m. On view through February 28. www.westwindsorarts.org.

Princeton Day School: ‘Boris Torres: People I Know’

The Anne Reid ’72 Gallery at Princeton Day School presents Boris Torres: People I Know, opening on Thursday, January 8, with a public reception from 3 to 5 p.m. The exhibition features 30 portraits painted from life by Ecuador-born artist Boris Torres. The exhibit continues through Friday, March 6.

This exhibition brings together 30 portraits from a series of more than 100 painted over the span of six years in Torres’s Brooklyn studio. This project was first initiated by a commission completed for a friend, which Torres continued by asking people to sit for him, taking inspiration from artists such as Alice Neel. Over the years, these people have included friends and acquaintances, people whom the artist admires in the New York City community.

In preparation for each studio session, Torres asks his sitter to wear anything they want — in his words, “Either something extravagant they want to show off, something special or meaningful, or something casual and comfortable.” Together, the sitter and artist choose a pose, and the painting process begins. Communication with the sitter happens as he paints (moving from face to hands, for instance) so that the person can shift and be comfortable. Each portrait is painted on 18-by-24-inch paper over a few hours, recording their shared moment in paint. Once the model leaves, the painting is completed.

When asked what he hopes students of all ages will take away from this exhibition, Torres replied:

“I hope they learn that portraiture from life is a special art form, it has been around always, and it’s a collaboration between you and the sitter. Painting from life is much different than painting from a photo — things are always changing in real time, and you have to keep up and collaborate with your surroundings, such as light, movement, and shadows. It is a time to be still and get to know someone through looking and silence. [Having these pieces together] feels wonderful. It feels like a reunion/get-together of all these past experiences.”

Torres, born in 1976, received his master’s of fine arts from Brooklyn College and his bachelor’s from Parsons School of Design. A Leslie-Lohman Museum Fellow and artist resident at the Virginia Center for the Arts, Torres has exhibited widely in museums and galleries, including The Bronx Museum of Art, Tacoma Art Museum, Leslie-Lohman Museum, and Cheim & Read. His work is held in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Ecuador.

Boris Torres: People I Know, Anne Reid ’72 Gallery, Princeton Day School, 650 Great Road, Princeton. Opening reception Thursday, January 8, 3 to 5 p.m. On view through March 6. Contact annereid72gallery@pds.org for private viewings. www.pds.org.

Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie: byCONTRAST

The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie is the next stop for the regional juried exhibition “byCONTRAST: Apparent Contradictions” in coordination with Studio Art Quilt Associates NY+NJ. The show is on view from Friday, January 9, through Monday, February 9, with a reception on Saturday, January 10, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Artists were invited to create and submit work that explores a contrast captured in everyday expressions. The selected entries examine seemingly contradictory or incongruous figures of speech used for drama, humor, or irony. The show, which features works by 30 fiber artists from New York and New Jersey, was juried by Ann Johnston, who has exhibited her quilts made with hand-dyed fabrics and freehand stitching around the world.

byCONTRAST, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion, Cadwalader Park, Trenton. Opening reception Saturday, January 10, 2 to 4 p.m. $10. Museum hours Thursdays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Free; donations are welcome. www.ellarslie.org or 609-989-1191.