Hackensack Art Club Making History Thru Art for 83 years

HACKENSACK ART CLUB: 83 YEARS AND GOING STRONG

RELEASE. By Tony Schwab Contact: tchwab574@gmail.com

A sure sign that Bergen County is emerging from the pandemic into more vibrant times is the grand opening of the Hackensack Art Club’s first public art show since 2019. The Art Club returns to the public space with “Making History Through Art” at the Johnson Public Library, 274 Main Street, Hackensack on Thursday, November 4th through December 20th. Reservations for the opening ceremony on Friday, November 12th at 6 pm will be available on the Library website.

Since 1939, the Club has brought the unique power of all the arts to Bergen County. This November, along with original works from the Club’s 26 members which reflect each artist’s vision of emotion, shape and form, the show includes a display of press coverage and personal correspondence from the Club’s rich history handed down from one president to the next since the first meeting in 1938. The Art Club archives reveal the resilience of Bergen County artists from the end of the Depression when it was founded by Miss Mary E. Boggan, Johnson Library Director, through World War II and seven decades of national change including the recent health challenges in which Zoom meetings and virtual art shows took the place of the real thing.

Before 2020, only during WW II were “meetings and demonstrations dispensed with,” though of course the artists continued making art. In 1952 at a gala art show opening, renowned Hackensack architect and tax assessor Richard Lamb praised the Art Club for its perseverance through the “devastation of wars and marches of victory.” The archives show how over the years, every holiday season and parade in Hackensack showcased the Club’s decorative influence.

A memorable comment about the old days comes from a news article from the late 1950’s featuring 69-year-old Hackensack artist Edward Vrey. Born in the nineteenth century, Vrey also exhibited in Greenwich Village. In the article, he offers his strong opinion about modern art and the “beat generation” which included Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists. This art would not last, Vrey declares, calling it “a temporary sickness. This sickness will not last for very long. Out-of-towners like to see this sort of thing.”

The Hackensack Art Club of the 21st Century continues to promote the power of art. During the pandemic, with in-person meetings on hold, the Club turned to Zoom. Current president Monica Chavarria with Club member Ted Malin, her husband, and a veteran Hackensack teacher, hosted three virtual art shows featuring the Club’s newest works, painting demonstrations, and live music, with each show drawing nearly a hundred participants. Chavarria, a tireless organizer as well as a painter and teacher, is also the art director for Club Colombia which energizes Bergen County by celebrating the creative work of the growing and diverse Latinx community in venues across the state. Chavarria explains her mission for the Hackensack Art Club: “Art is love and education and community, and we are dedicated to it. After 83 years, nothing can stop us.”

Regards, Monica Chavarria/President of the Hackensack Art Club.

Happy Holidays everyone!