Visual art, creative writing, dance, and drama will all be featured at Full Circle 2015 Perspectives, the annual celebration of Matheny’s Arts Access Program, to be held from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center on the Matheny campus in Peapack, NJ. Arts Access is a unique fine arts program enabling individuals with disabilities to fully express themselves in the creative arts.
A visual arts exhibit, curated by Haeree Park, Arts Access project and event coordinator, will be on display in the gallery, beginning at 3 p.m. It will include more than 50 pieces from nearly 40 artists. Park, who is also a freelance graphic designer, photographer and jewelry designer, emphasizes that, “Each artist has his or her own style, but there will be small groupings of similar styles.”
A stage presentation at 4 p.m., produced by Arts Access dance facilitator Heather Williams, will include 12 segments, encompassing creative writing, dance, and drama created by Arts Access artists. Actors from Premiere Stages, the professional equity theatre in residence at Kean University, will be part of the production, along with several professional dancers. Williams, who also teaches dance and performs with Dance Innovations, Inc. in Chatham, NJ, says being a facilitator at Arts Access, “has made me a better teacher outside of here. I have a new appreciation of the artistic process.”
Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, will be honorary chair of Full Circle. Paleologos has served as NJSCA’s executive director since January 2012. Prior to that, he was executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office and founder and producing director of Boston’s Stuart Street Playhouse.
“Abstract”, a metal print by James Lane
Food and beverage sponsors are: Café Azzurro, Peapack; Gladstone Tavern, Gladstone; 3 West and Urban Table, Basking Ridge; cocoLuxe Fine Pastries, Peapack; and Village Office Supply, Somerset. Tickets to Full Circle are $40 and can be ordered online at events.matheny.org/Fullcircle2015 or by calling (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. All proceeds will benefit the Arts Access Program.
