Dear Editor,
For the past several months I have been working on a project in town that I hope will inspire others. The reveal of this project will be this Sunday, Oct 2nd from 6-9pm at 1200 Washington St. For the past few weeks, people have walked by the newly renovated storefront and seen signs announcing the grand opening of Gallery 1200 this weekend. Many people have inquired, “What is Gallery 1200?” Gallery 1200 is an exhibition and community space dedicated to providing local artists a venue to display their work at a prime location on Washington Street, as well as a meeting space for local organizations. Gallery 1200 will also host a variety of ongoing donation based workshops, giving people from the community a place to come to learn or try something new while meeting new friends and neighbors. Workshops will voluntarily be given by local artists, dancers, yoga instructors, etc. A calendar of events and workshops will be posted at the gallery, and will be accessible on our soon to be launched website www.gallery1200.org.
Fittingly, the idea for this space came about through an interaction between different aspects of our community. I have lived in Hoboken for 8 years now as an artist and have exhibited at several public locations including The Hoboken Historical Museum, the Arts and Music Festival, Hoboken Studio Tour, a number of local businesses, and several group shows with Hob_Art cooperative. Like many other local artists, I am always keeping my eye out for spaces to exhibit my work in Hoboken.
A few months back I asked Beth Mason if I could put some of my artwork in the storefront of a space she was using for her campaign for councilwoman at 1200 Washington St. She happily agreed and we got great feedback from the community about it.
While I truly appreciated the opportunity to display my work at such a great location, I also knew how much it would mean to other artists in town, so after the campaign I came up with a plan to keep the space open as Gallery 1200… a community space. After a great deal of planning and hard work, we are thrilled to finally open our doors to the public.
We would like to invite the Hoboken community to join us this Sunday from 6-9pm for “Made in Hoboken” – featuring artwork both made in and inspired by Hoboken, as well as wine and cheese, and a live jazz band. Gallery 1200 is sponsored by the Mason Family Civic League and directed by myself along with other volunteers. Our organization runs on donations, volunteer work, and heart, and we would love for anyone interested to become a part of it.
Laura Renee Meyerson