BLOOMFIELD — A brief, but noteworthy exhibit, combining the corporate and art worlds, will be opening Thursday, Oct. 15, and closing Monday, Oct. 19, in Bloomfield Center. There are only four artists in the show, but what is different is that it is taking place in an unusual venue: a Broad Street bank. Bloomfield resident Kevin Calhoun, who has acted before as an impresario and facilitated the exhibit, said he was trying to get this particular space, in the Provident Bank, at 11 Broad St., for months.
“I’ve been booking art shows for years, including the Bloomfield Steak and Seafood House, the Brookdale Reformed Church and the front window of Anthony’s Cheesecake,” he said.
The idea of having an exhibit in this bank hit him when he was there on some personal business. Its interior had recently been remodeled and the fresh paint and clean space spoke to him. So did Ollyn Lettman, the Bloomfield Center Alliance director, on a Zoom call.
“We were talking about venues for art,” Calhoun said. “A few days later, I walked into the bank. Ollyn started the idea and deserves the credit. I implemented it. For this show, I wanted four artists.”
The four artists will be Erin O’Brien Kenna, a painter; Peter Syak, a ceramicist; Elzbieta Kaciuba, a photographer; and Janet McCarthy, a painter. McCarthy recently died, but her family agreed to show her work. Her husband is the former mayor of Bloomfield, Ray McCarthy.
“Many people don’t go to museums or galleries,” Calhoun said. “In a bank, it’s a captive audience. I see the same people there every Friday. We all stop and look. It’s a no-brainer. The benefit is joy and happiness. You forget your troubles. You look at art and you wonder how it’s done. You ask yourself: How did they get that shading?
“Elzbieta took photos of people during COVID,” he continued. “She took her creativity and helped people cope. I hope she displays some of these photos. She did a terrific photo of The Green in the fog.”
Elzbieta said she will exhibit three photos in the show. A professional corporate photographer who now shoots only digital photographs, she said “Midnight Mist,” the picture Calhoun mentioned, was done with an analogue camera.
“‘Midnight Mist’ came from one of those moments when I simply had to pick up my camera,” she said. “The fog that night completely transformed the familiar landscape of my town, creating this beautiful, quiet atmosphere that I knew wouldn’t last. I was so inspired that I literally pulled my 8-year-old daughter out of bed at midnight, grabbed my camera and headed out with her to photograph it.
“There was something magical about seeing familiar places disappear into the fog and become something entirely different,” she continued. ‘Midnight Mist’ is one of the images I captured that night and it remains very special to me, not only for the photograph itself, but also for the memory of that spontaneous midnight adventure with my daughter.”
Syak, an engineer by profession, is a raku ceramicist. His works are created by low-temperature firing. The pieces are removed when red-hot and placed in a confined area with combustible material which, when it ignites, produces vivid colors and crackling in the glaze. Syak, a member of the NJ Potters Guild, said he is considered a raku master by his peers.
“I’ve been doing raku for 40 years,” he said. “At first, I attended a weekend workshop. I was done by 10 a.m. Saturday. When I saw the work, I was totally smitten and in love. It’s truly a passion.”
Provident Bank’s manager, Faizan Ahmed, said the bank was having the exhibit to lend a hand to the community by helping artists.
“It was a simple decision,” he said, adding that the process of getting it approved didn’t take long.
David Ostrowski, the bank’s marketing sales manager, said he did not know of another bank exhibiting art and that the exhibit will introduce a major bank renovation.
Lettman said the exhibit is something the BCA advocates and supports.
“This year, the BCA was awarded a state grant to hire a consultant to identify and develop art and cultural activities and, at the same time, promote our businesses in Bloomfield Center to attract visitors,” he said. “We hope this is the first of many initiatives focusing on these activities.”
The BCA, he said, will soon release its arts and cultural plan.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, after bank hours, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., there will be an art opening gala.
Photo Courtesy of Elzbieta Kaciuba
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