Art Galleries

May 20 – July 13, 2025
Closing Reception July 13, 2025 2:30 – 4:15

We are celebrating our 93-year in 2025! Essex Watercolor Club is New Jersey’s oldest active watercolor organization, founded by 27 watercolor artists in 1932, to meet, share ideas, discuss techniques and exhibit their work. We are a teaching club, dedicated to providing opportunities and activities that foster this objective. To that end: We offer our members 6 regular meetings a year, each featuring a demonstration by renowned artists; 1 watercolor paint-a-long workshops; and 3 opportunities each year for members to show their work at different venues in the area. Visit our website at https://www.ewcclub.com/ and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

The Art Upstairs Gallery is a gift of the John and Margaret Post Foundation.

May 20 – July 14, 2025
Reception: June 14, 2025 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Born and raised in eastern Canada and now based in NJ, Parvathi Kumar was initially trained as a teen by her mother in manual film photography, and gained formative darkroom experience in high school. Despite two technical degrees, her passion/obsession for photography over the last 35+ years remained strong, and she became a full-time freelance photographer in 2010. Though largely self-taught, she has also taken courses and workshops. She has received various top awards in Street Photography and exhibits her work extensively as a finalist in group and solo shows throughout the US and abroad. Her favorite activity is to simply wander and observe, to creatively and candidly capture our collective journey through life. The MPAC show will feature images taken in India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, and the USA.

The Starlight Gallery is a gift of Wendy and Jay Birnbaum

The Art Upstairs Gallery is located in the balcony lobby of Mayo Performing Arts Center. Exhibits are varied and showcase visual artists from a variety of mediums including watercolor, oil, photography, sculpture and more. Each year, the works of over 200 artists are showcased in group exhibits. Recent groups that have been showcased include the Essex Watercolor Club, New Jersey Photography Forum, Art in the Atrium and the Pastel Society of New Jersey. The Art Upstairs Gallery is a gift of the John and Margaret Post Foundation.

The Starlight Gallery is adjacent to our Starlight Room, MPAC’s donor lounge.  Exhibits feature individual exhibits by accomplished local artists. The Starlight Gallery is a gift of Wendy and Jay Birnbaum.

The galleries provide a unique opportunity to marry the visual and performing arts, and provide exposure to artists with an audience that may not normally frequent an art gallery. All artwork is available for purchase.

The Galleries are open to ticket holders prior to shows, during intermission, by appointment and every Tuesday afternoon from 12:00 -2:00.  For more information, please contact Charles Miller at cmiller1@mayoarts.org or Lee Kaloidis at 973-539-0345 x6587.