Jersey Arts Podcast

Artist Dion Hitchings just opened a new solo exhibit at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft. The show, "Dion Hitchings, Portraits on Recycled Consumer Boxes," be on view until September 18. Christopher Benincasa recently sat down with Hitchings to talk about the exhibit, outsider art, and migrating from St. Louis to New York City to rural Milford.

This Friday, the XPoNential Music Festival kicks off a weekend of music on the Camden Waterfront - three days, three stages, and more than 30 performances. At the River Stage at Wiggins Park on Friday, New Jersey guitar legend Billy Hector will ring in the festival with his signature style, a combination of Rock Roll and Jersey Shore Blues. He’s played with artists like Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, and made 14 albums - all while performing regularly on the small club circuit for more than 35 years. This podcast features an interview with Billy Hector, and two in-studio performances: "People of the World" and "Rita."

This Friday, the XPoNential Music Festival kicks off a weekend of music on the Camden Waterfront - three days, three stages, and more than 30 performances. At the River Stage at Wiggins Park on Friday, New Jersey guitar legend Billy Hector will ring in the festival with his signature style, a combination of Rock & Roll and Jersey Shore Blues. He’s played with artists like Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, and made 14 albums - all while performing regularly on the small club circuit for more than 35 years. This podcast features an interview with Billy Hector, and two in-studio performances: "People of the World" and "Rita."

Thanks for listening!

• Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your favorite podcast player.

The Jersey Arts Podcast is one medium of Feature Stories on Discover Jersey Arts (jerseyarts.com), where articles and videos also cover New Jersey’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.

Discover Jersey Arts is presented by ArtPride New Jersey. The program was co-founded by, and is currently supported by funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

• Subscribe to the Discover Jersey Arts' weekly e-newsletter to have stories delivered to your inbox.
• Follow and contact us @jerseyarts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Christopher Benincasa recently sat down with artist Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. This Thursday, you can too – at the Art Salon at Rat’s Restaurant at Grounds For Sculpture. The Art Salon is an opportunity to enjoy fine food, wine, a relaxed atmosphere, and thought provoking conversation. Strong-Cuevas has three pieces in the 42 acre sculpture park - 'Two Face Telescope', 'Arch II', and 'Arch II, Set II' - large, aluminum, abstract work that brings to mind Modernism, but also the traditional visual art of Native Americans, the ancient Mayans, even Cave Art. That fusion of global visual language with Modern aesthetics shines through in all of her sculptures, which are, most often, boldly rendered meditations on the human face. To register for the Art Salon (Thursday, 6/16).

Christopher Benincasa recently sat down with artist Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. This Thursday, you can too – at the Art Salon at Rat’s Restaurant at Grounds For Sculpture. The Art Salon is an opportunity to enjoy fine food, wine, a relaxed atmosphere, and thought provoking conversation. Strong-Cuevas has three pieces in the 42 acre sculpture park - 'Two Face Telescope', 'Arch II', and 'Arch II, Set II' - large, aluminum, abstract work that brings to mind Modernism, but also the traditional visual art of Native Americans, the ancient Mayans, even Cave Art. That fusion of global visual language with Modern aesthetics shines through in all of her sculptures, which are, most often, boldly rendered meditations on the human face.

Thanks for listening!

• Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your favorite podcast player.

The Jersey Arts Podcast is one medium of Feature Stories on Discover Jersey Arts (jerseyarts.com), where articles and videos also cover New Jersey’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.

Discover Jersey Arts is presented by ArtPride New Jersey. The program was co-founded by, and is currently supported by funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

• Subscribe to the Discover Jersey Arts' weekly e-newsletter to have stories delivered to your inbox.
• Follow and contact us @jerseyarts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Producer Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with Saskia Schmidt, Director of Education at The Noyes Museum of Stockton University, as well as a couple of artists featured in this year’s New Jersey Arts Annual. The exhibit is on display at Atlantic City’s Noyes Arts Garage – a gallery and community space cleverly housed within a parking deck in the historic Duck Town neighborhood – and showcases a cross section of contemporary visual art currently being produced in the state. The 2016 New Jersey Arts Annual, sponsored by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, runs through July 8. For more information visit artsgarageac.com.

Producer Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with Saskia Schmidt, Director of Education at The Noyes Museum of Stockton University, as well as a couple of artists featured in this year’s New Jersey Arts Annual. The exhibit is on display at Atlantic City’s Noyes Arts Garage – a gallery and community space cleverly housed within a parking deck in the historic Duck Town neighborhood – and showcases a cross section of contemporary visual art currently being produced in the state. The 2016 New Jersey Arts Annual, sponsored by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, runs through July 8. For more information visit artsgarageac.com.

Thanks for listening!

• Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your favorite podcast player.

The Jersey Arts Podcast is one medium of Feature Stories on Discover Jersey Arts (jerseyarts.com), where articles and videos also cover New Jersey’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.

Discover Jersey Arts is presented by ArtPride New Jersey. The program was co-founded by, and is currently supported by funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

• Subscribe to the Discover Jersey Arts' weekly e-newsletter to have stories delivered to your inbox.
• Follow and contact us @jerseyarts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Sarah Kirkland Snider didn't start out to be a contemporary classical composer, although music was what she loved as long as she could remember. In this podcast, the Princeton composer tells producer Susan Wallner how she was drawn to composing, the role of popular music in her work, and what it's like to be premiering her newest piece, "Hiraeth," in her hometown. The half-hour piece is dedicated to her father, and is accompanied by a film shot on location in his North Carolina hometown. "Hiraeth" was co-commissioned by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, which will perform it on May 15, 2016. It's part of the PSO's year-long celebration of women composers. Sarah's song-cycle "Penelope" - called one of the top 5 genre-defying albums of 2010 by NPR - will be performed on May 17 by members of the PSO.

Sarah Kirkland Snider didn't start out to be a contemporary classical composer, although music was what she loved as long as she could remember. In this podcast, the Princeton composer tells producer Susan Wallner how she was drawn to composing, the role of popular music in her work, and what it's like to be premiering her newest piece, "Hiraeth," in her hometown. The half-hour piece is dedicated to her father, and is accompanied by a film shot on location in his North Carolina hometown. "Hiraeth" was co-commissioned by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, which will perform it on May 15, 2016. It's part of the PSO's year-long celebration of women composers. Sarah's song-cycle "Penelope" - called one of the top 5 genre-defying albums of 2010 by NPR - will be performed on May 17 by members of the PSO.

Thanks for listening!

• Subscribe to The Jersey Arts Podcast in your favorite podcast player.

The Jersey Arts Podcast is one medium of Feature Stories on Discover Jersey Arts (jerseyarts.com), where articles and videos also cover New Jersey’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.

Discover Jersey Arts is presented by ArtPride New Jersey. The program was co-founded by, and is currently supported by funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

• Subscribe to the Discover Jersey Arts' weekly e-newsletter to have stories delivered to your inbox.
• Follow and contact us @jerseyarts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

"Healing Voices OnStage: Caregivers Stories" is a theatrical project weaving together stories about the experience of being a caregiver – whether it’s taking care of a loved one who is seriously ill, working professionally with patients at a healthcare facility, or going through the transition of becoming the caretaker of a parent. Unlike most plays, this script is based on the writing of people who have lived these experiences. The New Jersey Theatre Alliance has partnered with Atlantic Health System to produce the event, working with Premiere Stages and the Writers Theatre of New Jersey to gather the raw material – real stories about caregiving from real people, collected through an open submission process. On March 31st, at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum in Morristown, professional actors will take the stage to tell those stories. Part of the Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival, this event is free, but registration is requested. To RSVP, go to atlantichealth.org/healingarts or call 1-800-247-9580.

Christopher Benincasa recently spoke with John Wooten, Producing Artistic Director at Premiere Stages at Kean University, about this unique production.