SOMA Artists Gather for Community Portrait

On Tuesday evening at Cameron Field, artists across all mediums came to have their picture taken.  

Greg Leshé, an artist and South Orange resident, had the idea several years ago to create a public record of the artists in the South Orange and Maplewood community. Leshé says that our community is "teeming and saturated with artists… in an exceptional way."

Having served as a committee member on the board of the Baird, Leshé approached Judy Wukitsch, Assistant Director for Recreation and Cultural Affairs until the end of the month, with his idea.  The concept bounced around for six or seven years, according to Leshé, but as of Tuesday night, it has come to fruition.  Approximately 60 artists, from painters to theater directors to jazz composers, arrived for their not-so-close-up.  

The artist is open to suggestions about how the photograph should be used, in addition to a print that will hang in the Baird.