Anyone who has spent even a minute at the Jersey City or Hoboken studio tours knows how alive the Hudson River waterfront art scene is. Opening night at Jersey City’s Canco lofts is mobbed, the food doesn’t last long, the street is packed with cars, and there’s more art than any one person could possibly take in.
And among the hundreds of visitors are folks who don’t just browse—but buy. Some of these art lovers are being showcased at the Jersey City Museum in “A Community Collects,” an exhibit that runs through Aug. 17.
Ben Dineen and Dennis Hull
Between them, these Secaucus residents have been collecting art for almost 50 years. “My first purchase was in 1979,” says Dineen, a retired banker, “and Dennis bought his first painting in 1963.” They collect mostly works on paper, though they have some paintings, glass pieces, and ceramics. “Our collection is informed by what we like and who we like,” Dineen says. “Getting to know young artists and developing friendships is a nice byproduct of collecting art.” He cites Jon Rappleye, who creates porcelain birds, among other things, painters Dahlia Elsayad and Hiroshi Kumagai, and Chakaia Booker, who works with recycled materials, most famously with old tires. “We don’t think about what our collection is worth,” Dineen says. “We support the arts by supporting the artists.”
Ofelia García
Though she works in Wayne, Jersey City resident Ofelia García prefers to live in cities. “They’re more vibrant,” she says. “They may have crime and dirt, but they also have art and restaurants.” García, who is dean of the arts and communications at William Paterson University, collects works on paper from artists all over the world. A Cuban native, she has been collecting for 30 years. Five works from her photography collection are on view. Among them, Sandy Skoglund’s “A Breeze at Work.” Says García, “Its color, scale, and of course, the fantastic image had the power to stop me in my tracks.” García funded the García Gallery at the museum to display prints, drawings, photographs, and mixed media pieces. “Anybody can collect if you educate your eye,” García says.
James and Carol Kobak
“We get invited to shows, and we buy what appeals to us,” James Kobak says about the works that he and his wife, Carol, have collected over the years. He says they don’t collect “particular people or periods.” They have works on paper and oil paintings from a whole variety of artists, including Mel Leipzig and Helen Cantrell, as well as photographs by Barbara Landis. “We don’t have a huge collection,” he says. “We buy for our enjoyment.” Kobak, who is a New York lawyer, says he’d been on art tours in little towns and seen “a lot of schlocky stuff.” In Jersey City, he says, “we were staggered by the quality. A lot of people are doing cutting edge work.”
Bill and Suzanne LaRosa
These Bayonne residents collect postcards, trading cards, beer trays, toys, theater programs, radios, matchbook covers, advertisements, coasters, and other artifacts related to Hudson County history. Bill LaRosa says he’s been collecting since 1990 when he found a Jersey City postcard in a Cape Cod antique shop. “It’s an historic area,” he says. “Major companies had factories here, which provided a lot of jobs.” The county had numerous breweries, including the Hudson County Consumers Brewery Co. in what was then West Hoboken. A tray from the brewery is on display at the museum, along with dozens of postcards.
Nathan and Nancy Sambul
The overused word “eclectic” really applies to these two. One of their favorite artists is about as far removed from the current waterfront art scene as you can get. Taiso Yoshitoshi died in Japan in 1892. Eight of his woodblock prints are on display at the museum. “I started collecting his work about 1975,” says Nathan. “I don’t know why I fell in love with it.” The Sambuls also collect the work of Barbara Gurwitz. “She’s a very vibrant, very exciting Southwest artist,” says Nathan. “I had a dream about her work, and it’s very powerful to acquire a piece that I had a dream about.” As for local artists, Nathan cites Bruce Morozko, who does “very fanciful funny characters with a goofy kind of attitude … Other than Yoshitoshi, most of the collection is artists I know.”