Although Stefania Panepinto took some art classes in high school and college, she didn’t imagine herself becoming an artist.
When the idea eventually came to her, she thought she had started too late.
The co-founder of Panepinto Gallery in the Powerhouse Arts district, she is among the mainstays in the local art scene, not merely for the shows she hosts at her own gallery but for popup shows in various locations elsewhere in Jersey City and Hudson County.
Her family is famous in Jersey City, a prominent real estate family for which she worked for a time. “We’ve been involved in Jersey City for five generations,” she said.
She was very involved with the community and market-side real estate, liked interior design, and always was involved the image-oriented side of the business.
Panepinto lived in Jersey City until about 13, when she moved to Bergen County. She graduated from Tenafly High School. She’s been involved in the community for some time, including institutions such as Hudson County Community College and New Jersey City University.
“I’ve always been involved in the community.” – Stefania Panepinto
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Originally, she thought she would pursue a career in medicine, possibly to become a veterinarian. Her Bachelors of Science Degree from Rutgers University was in animal science.
“I was pre-med and decided I didn’t want to be a veterinarian,” she said.
She changed direction. And yet, her medical studies somehow set the stage for her artist career. She loved to draw even then.
This would later emerge in her art when she became part of a program of artists that reconstructed the skulls of victims in open criminal cases.
One of those was a case from 1983 that was later resolved thanks to DNA evidence.
She was among 11 students from the New York Academy of Art who sculpted faces for 11 unidentified crime victims as part of a Forensic Sculpture Workshop.
Discovering her art
Panepinto was on a world tour when she discovered that she had a talent for art and took some drawing classes. An artist saw her work.
“The artist said she couldn’t even draw like I did,” she said.
In 2010 she took some classes at the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins, in drawing and painting.
“Most people do not start as old as I was,” she said.
She was doing portraits and working oil, two areas considered very difficult for beginners.
“When I took my first class, I didn’t know anything about oil, or paint, or what to do with a palette,” she said.
But she seemed to have something other beginners did not, and continued to take classes.
She didn’t pursue her career right away. She came back to the United States and took a year to take care of her grandmother.
In 2011, she and Kara Rooney founded the gallery in the Powerhouse Arts District, curating and co-directing and a times bringing in guest curators. She also became an art advisor, helping to create “Art as Inspiration” for luxury hotels, residential and office buildings, hospitals, as well as homes. She recently held several very successful popup shows in Hoboken and in Jersey City and is currently working with the Jersey City Medical Center on possible art displays here.
In 2015 she earned her MFA at the New York Academy of Art in 2015. She now works in oil paint, mixed media, and sculpture.
The gallery she runs has limited use, and can’t hold shows during extreme heat or cold, although the gallery survived Superstorm Sandy.
So she curates at the gallery when weather permits. While she likes creating art, she said she finds joy in every aspect, from showing and selling to the creative process.
She recently did a show at 70 Columbus Drive in Jersey City. In such settings, she gets to help steer people’s imaginations for placement of paintings. She puts things where she thinks they should go to enhance the room as well as the art work.
She hopes to do more popup shows as more developers open their facilities.
She said art is thriving in the area, including Jersey City, Hoboken, and New York. Her work has appeared in galleries throughout the region, and she has been involved in curating other artists, as well as teaching.
A Pro-Arts membership drive
Pro-Arts is one of the oldest arts organization in Jersey City, and with them she is currently involved in promoting “Members Only Solstice Salon,” hosted by Panepinto Galleries, 371 Warren St. on June 21 from 7 to 9 p.m.
While the event is for Pro-Art members, it is also part of a recruitment effort.
“You don’t have to be an artist to be a member,” she said. “You can be a collector or an art lover.”
Members can bring art and an easel of their own to display their work and attendees can vote on the work they like best. There will be a $200 cash prize to the winner. Work will also be sale with 100 percent of the sale price going to the artist.
Panepinto said there are a lot of reasons to join. The news letter itself is a valuable resource alerting members to art related job opportunities, venues where they might submit art work, and various art events.
“The cost is only $25 a year,” she said.
For more information, or to volunteer, email Mollie Thonneson at mthonneson@gmail.com
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.