2G,
JCAST (STUDIO TOUR OF JERSEY CITY).!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I rented this apartment in 1978 , when Jersey City was artistic desert and pretty dangerous to live in.
Morris Pesin, who’s name is now in positive history of Jersey City as a Founder of Liberty State Park, asked few artists to exhibit paintings and drawings on a wire fence of Van Vorst Park.
My Art Center had 11 artists.
My ”assistant” vas Margaret Shmidt. At that time she was a NYU student studying journalism. Later she became main editor of Jersey City’s main newspaper “JERSEY JOURNAL”.
When I came to the United States in 1976, my dream was to create the same kind of theater of pantomime, as I had in Soviet Union, but much more interesting. My concept of Art Center was to include all aspects of artistic expression: theater, visual arts, literary arts, film making, naturally with classes for children and adults as well, but coming to other country without the language and with no money, to start this kind of center is not easy. This why I established a non profit organization jn 1979 and called it the same, as I had it in Russia “GRIGUR’S PANTOMIME THEATRE”.
Living in the city with no galleries, no interest in art in the city, in which there is no theater, no gallery, where people are not buying art, survival for artist is impossible.
Still, I was teaching pantomime and performing as a volunteer in schools very often.
I decided to open my studio, so people will be able to see and possibly, to purchase my art.
As you can see below, I made funny design, because I was introducing visitors to pantomime as well.
My first Studio Tour named “OPEN STUDIO”, was in 1984, but besides performing pantomime here, in New York, Philadelphia and other countries, I had audiences and many friends. I also was teaching art classes and workshops in Montclair Museum, Newark Museum and later exhibited in Jersey City Museum. It was located at that time in Main Public Library. Director was Ms. Jacobs.
I missed one important case: after arriving to the US, to New York, sponsoring organization Nyana, placed me in welfer Hotel St. George, Brooklyn Heights, beautiful area, but 24 floors of this hotel were abandoned. I was able to live there, until hotel went through renovation in one and a half year, so I desperately was looking for inexpensive apartment to rent.
One young man came to hotel with the offer for new immigrants to move to Jersey City.
I took a risk. I knew that this city had terrible reputation, but I thought that benefit will be in price. I had no money, earning $6 per hour as a jewelry designer on 8th Avenue in Manhattan.
When I finally visited Jersey City, the owner of several buildings, still in construction process, asked me if I possibly will have an idea, how he can attract new immigrants to rent his apartments in this town. His name is Arthur Goldberg. He established C.A.S.E. Bank in his another building on 80 Grand St, Jersey City.
Because I fell in love with one duplex aoartment and already planned to move in when it will be ready, I suggested him to establish an Art Center there. He liked this idea. That was 1977 and a half. In half year my aoartment will be ready and I could move in in 1978.
Arthur named his art center C.A.S.E. Museum.
I rented this aoartment in 1978 and immediately started pantomime rehearsals and attracted other Russian and local artists from my Art Center, in order to make exhibitions in new museum.
Generally, Russian people were attracted to visit shows. People were coming mostly, from New York, Brooklyn and Pennsylvania. Crowd was growing pretty fast.
Because I had many followers, I decided to open my apartment and to name my parties: for “Artists and Friends”.
My crowd was enlarging fast. Once I had close to 300 guests here. People were not able to move at all and I was afraid that floor in my apartment will collapse, so next year , in 1995, I relocated my gatherings in to a Museum.
Jane Goldberg, my friend from Leningrad - Anatoly Pronin and few more,became board members of this Museum I and we planned variety of performances here - Fashion Shows, installations and Pantomime.
I have flyers of those events.
On October 1st, one of my x-students, Susan, who studied with me sculpture in Montclair, visited me with her husband and gave me to read a letter I wrote to her 29 years ago, in which I mentioned about my “OPEN STUDIO”.
When my son Alex was born, our neighbor Alma Rodrigues, opened a kindergarten in a small church on the corner of Grove and Montgomery.
Fallowing that, when her daughter and Alex’s became 7 years old, we created Learning Community Charter School, as I already mentioned, and I changed name of my non profit organization, to “The Art Center”. Previous name was too long and difficult to pronounce.
It was a short version of “Studio Tour” in Jersey City.
Below is a STATISTICS OF AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE TO MY STUDIO:
FROM 1984-2013
during my Open Studio I had from 30-70 people a day.
2014, 2015; 2016 - my name and address was not listed as a part of Studio Tour.
2017 - no visitors
2018 - one visitor told me that address was missing.
2019 - two visitors for 3 days.
2020 - 3 visitors during 3 days of Studio Tour.
2021 - Oct.1 st - 0 visitors; October 2 - 8 visitors; October 3 - 2 visitors, but few of my friends came over and left at 8pm, instead of 6 pm.
Only my friends purchased few of my pieces but all income from sale was $190 for all 3 days.
EXPENSE: 6 days of preparation- organizing, a framing, repairing broken glass, cleaning art, frames, food $40.
Total income from STUDIO TOUR - $150.
I have a gift to slightly retarded person worth $200. Visitors received my postcards with images of my art.
MORA Museum had 10 visitors first day, about 30 visitors on a second day (mostly Russian friends of exhibiting artists and few people on last day of Studio Tour.
Grigory Gurevich, copyright, October 4, 2021, Jersey City, NJ, USA.