The magic of art is alive and well in Jersey City.
There’s a little art oasis hidden on Bergen Avenue in the Journal Square area where for over three decades New Jersey artists have been able to showcase their work.
The Upstairs Art Gallery, which is part of an art framing business, is the vision of owner and art director Marge Calavito. The gallery has been her studio for over three decades and is the place where she buys, sells, displays, frames and teaches art.
Two weeks ago, Calavito opened the Stuyvesant Room. She named it in honor of famous Dutch colonist and New Amsterdam Mayor Peter Stuyvesant, whose statue stands in a schoolyard next door to the room and can be seen from a window.
The secluded room in the corner of the gallery features the works from the non-profit Hudson Artists of New Jersey, Inc. It includes pieces in oils, sculptures, digital print cyber-holograms, photography, watercolors, graphics and acrylic paintings. The works range from $185 to $800.
Calavito wants to have at least three art shows in the room during the year.
“The room is to have a venue to introduce artists to the neighborhood,” Calavito said. “Artists are part of God’s hand.”
Featured artist Tadeusz Praczuk, from Poland, has two sculptures on display in the room, each selling for $600. His work “The Model,” Praczuk explains, is an expression of a woman.
“It’s beautiful. This is woman,” the artist said. “It’s made from special wood, natural colors.”
In the gallery’s frame shop, next to the Stuyvesant Room, Calavito frames paintings and pictures for her loyal clients. In the room opposite the frame shop, she teaches beginning and intermediate painting.
“I love art, especially when kids are interested in it,” Calavito said.
She was born and raised in Jersey City and studied art in New York University. In 1989, the Hudson Artists group named Calavito artist of the year for Hudson County.
“It was a great honor,” she said.
The Upstairs Art Gallery is located at 896 Bergen Ave. The Stuyvesant Room is open Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. 4:30 p.m. For more information, the telephone number is 963-6444.