The new Ani Art Academy America on Broad Street is among the scheduled “art stops” for a Tuesday evening Gallery Gallivant, departing from the Monmouth Street headquarters of Monmouth Arts.
It’s being called a “Gallery Gallivant” — the latest in a series of Red Bank art walks hosted by the folks at borough-based Monmouth Arts, and a stimulating little constitutional for anyone who’s itching for something to do on a normally sleepy Tuesday in town.
One of a slate of offerings designed to give arts aficionados a strolling/rolling perspective on what’s happening in and around the “MoCo” (Monmouth County) Arts Corridor — that scintillating strip of station stops along the Matawan-to-Manasquan stretch of the North Jersey Coast Line — the two-hour guided tour sets sail tomorrow evening, April 25, from the organization’s storefront headquarters at 105 Monmouth Street (the western corner of the Count Basie Theatre building).
Participants are encouraged to arrive by 5:30 p.m. at the Monmouth Arts office, where they’ll enjoy wine and cheese plus a look at the latest featured-artist display on the walls of the nonprofit’s “Micro Gallery.” From there it’s a journey of a couple of blocks down Monmouth, to the gallery/studio space of the long-established local artist collective The Art Alliance of Monmouth County. It’s a special Tuesday evening look at the gallery whose walls and windows feature a different themed display each month, and on view will be the current member group shows “Drip Dribble and Splash” and “Cardboard,” with the April window display showcasing the work of guest judge Richard Mills.
Rounding the corner of Broad Street and heading south to number 143, the Galavant takes a close-up look at one of the most intriguing new additions to the area’s art scene — the Red Bank studio of Ani Art Academy America. One of only two locations in the United States (the other is in Bear Creek, PA) of the international art school chain founded by Anthony and Ani Waichulis, the facility offers comprehensive art-education apprenticeships to armed forces veterans and individuals with disabilities — a “proven teaching method” that the proprietors (who have also opened schools in Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean island of Anguilla) pitch as “a life changing improvement that will help Veterans develop a rewarding career that they can take great pride in.”
Taking a one-block detour over to the formerly forgotten alleyway of Clay Street, the excursion concludes with a grand tour, a possible sneak peek, and some “sweet treats” at the appropriately named Detour Gallery, the exciting new artspace (founded and curated by collector and businessman Ken Schwartz) whose openings, acquisitions and fundraising activities have been documented over the past months in the paperless pages of redbankgreen. Having just concluded a two-man exhibit of works by thirtysomething creatives Martin Schapira and Zevi G, the gallery prepares for the imminent opening of Re-America, a group show spotlighting the expressions of ten Latin American artists based in the Caribbean, South America, and the United States. Several of those featured artists are expected to be in attendance during the opening reception, scheduled to run from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 29.
Tickets for the April 25 Gallery Gallivant are $20 per person ($15 for Monmouth Arts members), and can be reserved online here.
