Zsolt Bátori
Curator
ph21 Gallery
*International Gallery: Focus on Photography*
Zsolt is a philosopher of art and photographer. He is an associate professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and at Kodolányi János University, where he currently serves as Head of the Research Centre for Art and Creative Industries. He visits the University of Murcia in Spain for regular research collaborations. He has conducted research and taught philosophy of art and photography courses at various universities in Hungary, the United States, Spain and Argentina, and has exhibited his photographic work internationally. Zsolt is also the founder and director of PH21 Gallery.
Anonda Bell
Director & Chief Curator, Paul Robeson Galleries
Express Newark, Rutgers University – Newark
Anonda Bell is a New Jersey and New York based curator and artist. Born in Australia she has lived in the USA since 2005. She is currently the Director & Chief Curator of the Paul Robeson Galleries, at Express Newark, Rutgers University. Previous curatorial work in the not-for-profit sector includes work in New York at the Chelsea Art Museum and Snug Harbor Cultural Center, at the Everhart Museum of Fine Art, Science and Technology, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In Australia she worked at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and Bendigo Art Gallery. Her education has been undertaken at Rutgers University in the USA, and in Australia at Monash University, University of Melbourne and RMIT University, Melbourne.
Ivy Brown
Owner and Curator
Ivy Brown Gallery
Ivy Brown Gallery was founded in 2001 as a result of 9/11 and her commitment to opening doors in her community. The Gallery represents and exhibits contemporary art of all mediums. Dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists, Ivy Brown takes her experience from the commercial arts world and brings it to the fine arts arena. The gallery also curates exhibitions throughout New York City. Ivy’s commitment to art and the critical part it plays in our humanity is the grounding force behind the gallery.
Virginia Fabbri Butera
Director of the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery
Chairperson of the Art Department, the Dance and Music
Minors, and the MA Program in Social Media Design and Management at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ.
Virginia Fabbri Butera, PhD, is the Director of the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery, a tenured Professor of Art History, and Chairperson of the Art Department, the Dance and Music Minors, and the MA Program in Social Media Design and Management at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ. She received her BA in Renaissance Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, her MA in History of Art from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD in Art History from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.
She has curated art exhibitions for more than forty years for museums and galleries such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery and other institutions around the country. She has also organized shows at various New Jersey galleries such as the Arts Guild in Rahway, the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, Gallery 14 Maple at Morris Arts in Morristown, and the Watchung Art Center. In February 2020, she will open her fortieth major exhibition, The Material World, at the Maloney Art Gallery. She has been awarded two NEA grants for multi-disciplinary programs, “The Phrase in Art” and “When Art and Science Collaborate,” and private grants that support the exhibitions and programs of the Gallery. In May 2010, Dr. Butera was named Arts Advocate of the Year by Morris Arts, Morristown, NJ. She has published and lectured widely during her career.
Lisa DuBois
Curator
XGallery Harlem
Harlem is known around the world as the Black capitol of the United States. The community of Harlem is steeped in a culturally rich history, which has primarily expressed itself through the influence of African American literature, dance and music.
X Gallery curator, Lisa DuBois recognized the art exposure-void that needed to be filled in Harlem’s burgeoning universe of talented but under-represented local visual artists; she addressed the issue when given the opportunity to launch X Gallery of Harlem with the support and sponsorship of John Mc Guinness of Harlem Properties licensed real estate agency.
Lisa DuBois has delivered on her vision by hosting a multitude of gallery exhibitions featuring a mix of both established and promising emerging artists.
Lisa established the X Gallery lifetime achievement awards. The 2018 recipient of the award is Dudley Vaccianna and Ademola Olugebefola in 2019.
Lisa has also succeeded in thinking outside of the gallery (box), partnering with
“Save Art Space” a unique nonprofit organization that provides free public art space for talented artists. Legendary Harlem artist Ademola Olugebefola artist joined Lisa as co-curator for Cultural Diversity, a juried art competition. As a result of this coordinated effort between Save art Space and X gallery the awarded winners artwork received enormous exposure on outdoor Bus Stop Ads throughout East Harlem along with a month-long exhibition at X Gallery.
Subsequent art shows at X Gallery include a partnership with Enfoco,
A 35-year renowned photography organization. Together X Gallery and Enfoco produced an LBGT exhibition combining photographers from both X and Enfoco. This exhibition was documented with an article and a 30-picture layout in the Advocate, leading publication for LBGTQ news and art.
Lisa exhibited the work of Fred Watkins in a solo show featuring images from key moments in his 35-year career as a White House and black culture photographer. Many images had never seen by the public)
X Gallery has been recognized as a cultural beacon of fine art in Harlem, with the publication of reviews by art critics including: Nadja Sayej from the
The Guardian who said of the “Cultural Diversity” exhibition
In celebrating Harlem “It is important to show art that reflects different people”.
Afropunk’s review of the Cultural Diversity exhibition show stated” This exhibition pays homage to Harlem’s cultural legacy.”
Lisa DuBois has taken a stand to represent and promote the careers of Harlem Centric Artists and the local community as curator of X Gallery. As she aptly described her point-of-view in this Guardian published quote “It’s like were pioneers, people will look back in 20 or 30 years from now and say, “that was the beginning.” We’re part of the evolution of Harlem, it’s constantly going to change.”
Jo-El Lopez
Independent Curator
Jo-El Lopez – Visual artist, arts advocate, and Curator. Jo-El has curated independent and affiliated exhibitions since 2010. His goal is to connect the urban audience with cultural experience in untraditional arts settings. He has been curating Newarks’ Gallery Aferro, Activate: Market Street since 2011 which has received critical acclaim. Activate: Market Street is a yearlong exhibition that displays installations and two dimensional art in store windows at one of the busiest streets is Newark, NJ.
Some other shows include: The Store Front Gates Project and several murals and pop up shows for the City of Newark and Yendor Arts, several shows for Gallery Aferro, Newark Open Doors, Paterson Art Walk, Paterson Great Falls Festival, Newark Artfront Galleries, and Hoboken Diggable Arts Festival as well as other independence projects. He is currently the residence curator at Gallery Aferro. Originally from the Paterson, NJ area, he studied at Kean and Montclair State Universities. He has exhibited his works throughout the NY Metropolitan and Caribbean areas and his work is part of Newark Museum
Permanent collection.
Born in Juncos, Puerto Rico and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Lopez uses the visual storytelling of traditional realism to convey complex commentary on the intersection of faith and modernity, the strength of family, and the multidimensional contemporary urban experience. The decades the artist spent under the Pentecostal doctrine, a bold color palette informed by both abstract painting as well as older traditions of icon-making, all meld to create Lopez’s kaleidoscopic worldview. His artworks reveal a restless, deeply engaged spirit closely observing not only his immediate environment, but the larger historic trajectory of national news. Lopez asserts, “Originally, I studied business and fine arts at Kean University and at Montclair State University and was prepared for a life in the corporate arena.
But my life’s journey has led me back to artmaking and my true passion. My work shows my voyage from that life choice to now.” In just four years since leaving the business world to focus on art, Lopez’s work has appeared regularly in tri-state area exhibitions at Gallery Aferro in Newark, NJ, The Bronx River Art Center, The Center for Contemporary Art Bedminster, NJ, Rutgers University in Newark, NJ, New Jersey City State University Gallery, Kean University, Rupert Raven Contemporary, and others. Currently he is a resident artist at Aferro Gallery in Newark, NJ.
Cheryl and Christopher Mack
Owners
The Bridge Art Gallery
Cheryl and Christopher Mack are the owners of the Bridge Art Gallery, founders of the Bridge Arts Festival and publishers of the Bridge Arts quarterly publication. Cheryl and Christopher strongly believe in the power of the arts to transform communities.
Together they utilize their years of professional experience of event planning, creative design and marketing to curate year-round quality arts entertainment. Together, the Macks locally produce monthly art exhibitions at the Bridge Art Gallery that showcase regional and national visual artists; they produce the summer performance series “Art in the Park” at First Street Park every Thursday from May to August; and they produce the annual Bridge Arts Festival in September. The Bridge Arts Festival has grown into a destination event where attendees from around the region are able to enjoy the beauty of Bayonne. Nestled along the waterfront with the Bayonne Bridge as the backdrop, the Bridge Arts Festival demonstrates that the City of Bayonne is more than just a bridge.
All of the Bridge Arts activities conceptualized by Cheryl Mack and her husband Christopher Mack are focused on reducing the distance that Bayonne residents must travel in order to enjoy quality arts entertainment.
Laura Bonas Palmer
Co-Owner and Curator
Akwaaba Gallery
Laura Bonas Palmer is co-owner and curator of Akwaaba Gallery in Newark, NJ. With her husband, Ray Palmer, Laura has established a new focal point gallery that has featured both museum collected artist and up and coming artistic talent from around the world. “Akwaaba” which means “welcome” is a warm space that encourages color, concept and expressive artistry.
Throughout the year, Laura produces thematic exhibitions that speak a language of beauty, cultural relevance and artistic sensibilities that cross age barriers, genre and ultimately bring the artist and collector together.
With a keen eye for detail and a deep appreciation for bold and electrifying color, Laura is known for showing a myriad of styles of work within a show, providing lots of opportunities for artists.
Determined to be a part of building their community, Laura and Ray, both Caribbean immigrants, opened the first art gallery to the Newark West Ward. Akwaaba Gallery is a hidden Newark gem located in the historic Fairmount neighborhood and features diverse works of contemporary art. Akwaaba’s mission is to engage the community and public with exhibitions featuring emerging local, national and international artists.
Ulysses Williams
Executive Director and Curator
ArtCrawl Harlem
Ulysses Williams is a native of Jersey City, NY and currently resides in Harlem, NYC. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Saint Peter’s College which is currently known as Saint Peter’s University. Upon Graduation held several positions at Saint Peter’ College including the position of Director of The Institute for the Advancement of Urban Education (IAUE) where he managed federally funded grant programs that provided academic programs for elementary students, college preparatory classes for high students and distance learning courses for adults returning to college to complete their college requirements.
He left academia to join the fashion and entertainment industry as an Account Executive for a multi-line showroom in New York City’s Garment District where he represented high end women’s wear designers as well as management positions for luxury brands such as Shanghai Tang, Stephane Kelian, Jimmy Choo and Seven for All Mankind.
Ulysses Williams is the Executive Director of ArtCrawl Harlem, a non-profit educational arts organization that supports and promotes Harlem’s rich visual arts history and community with an annual art exhibition. Under his leadership ArtCrawl Harlem has been awarded Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone grants, granted space on Governors Island, NYC to host Boundaries & Connections Artists Residency Program for NYC based emerging and professional artists and has continues to curate group exhibitions showcasing local artists. He also serves on the Executive Board of The Gatekeepers Collective (TGC) a resiliency group for Same Gender Loving (SGL) Black men a group that recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance with an art installation of banners across 125th street honoring the legacy of Black cultural icons of the period. The banners were designed by noted Artist, Jonathan Key.