Judy Wukitsch Retires

Her influence is nearly ubiquitous in South Orange arts, whether it's her voice introducing a band that plays a unique musical style, or an exhibit of paintings in a gallery that bears her influence.
 
Though Judy Wukitsch retires today, her influence will carry on through the artists she both helped and inspired.
 
"She's an inspiration fro what I do," said Terry Boddie, a visual artist from West Orange who has some of his work on display in an exhibit in South Orange's Pierro Gallery, of which Wukitsch is the director.
 
Boddie said he has looked to Wukitsch as an example of how one person dedicated to the arts can be the fulcrum for an artistic movement in a region.
 
"She as helped to establish the presence of the Pierro Gallery in the area so now people come from New York to show there," Boddie said. "People are lucky to have someone like Judy hold it through in the difficult times so she will always be an inspiration for younger artists like myself who are trying to do some things and tap into some of the energy that we have in this area."
 
Around the region, those who worked with Wukitsch, or had their work brought to a wider audience because of her, sing her praises.
 
Artist Bisa Butler said she is appreciative to this day that Wukitsch helped give her the opportunity to display at the Pierro Gallery.
 
"I was so honored to be a part of a show in my own hometown and if it wasn't for Judy and the curator, Jane Pickett, I wouldn't have had the opportunity," she said. "Local emerging artists such as myself do not always get chances to display in galleries like the Pierro."
 
Susan Napack, who served on the Pierro Gallery Exhibition Committee with Wukitsch, said her friend helped build what she called "a sophisticated art scene," in South Orange.
 
Napak said that Wukitsch's, "commitment to art that challenges and inspires exemplifies the shared belief that quality arts and culture are valuable and essential in the community and must be nurtured."
 
S.K. Duff, an artist who also served on the exhibition committee, said he appreciated the way Wukitsch would allow artists to be themselves.
 
"As a curator, which is in itself a creative process (like directing a play) she gave me free reign to be my own man and to work independently and formulate my ideas," he said. "Having a background in visual merchandising she sometimes had ideas that differed from my own when I was serving as the curatorial visionary for a given show. As an arts administrator she had the professional fortitude to step back and let me see my vision through. That's a great quality in a person and to work with."
 
Douglas Newman, the village president, said Wukitsch's efforts have helped give South Orange an artistic atmosphere and influence that is unique for a municipality of its size.
 
"She's played an invaluable role developing, managing and promoting cultural arts in South Orange," he said. "Which immeasurably has benefitted our immediate community and beyond."