Artist Spotlight: Adam Gustavson, Art In Motion
True to the Maplewood Division of Arts & Culture mission of ensuring that experiences are inclusive and accessible to all, we introduce our weekly Artist Spotlight Series. The series begins with art around town, right here in Maplewood. Our first featured artist is Adam Gustavson with the Maplewood Arts Council Art In Motion Project. Residents can enjoy public artwork safely while outdoors and socially distant.
Art In Motion: The Tunnelers, Adam Gustavson. Flashe vinyl paint, ink, and enamel on panel.
Location: Maplewood Train Station Tunnel
“The Tunnelers—a badger, a groundhog, several worms, and other assorted critters—are all travelers or makers of subterranean passageways. A pedestrian underpass seems like a natural place for them to be commuting through, while the commute, in itself, is the magical equalizer of the suburbs. Whatever our pecking order or business, even the hungry owls and tempting moles have to tolerate each other while in transit.” - Adam Gustavson
Adam Gustavson is a profession artist, author, and educator, living in West Orange, NJ. He is the co-owner of Renaissance Art Studio in Millburn, NJ, along with his wife Denise, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, as well as the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. He is the illustrator of over 30 books for children, and his paintings, drawings, and prints have been exhibited throughout the US including the eastbound stairwell of NJ Transit's Highland Avenue Station. Adam’s forthcoming picture book, The Froggies Do Not Want To Sleep, his debut as an author/illustrator, will be published in Spring 2021 by Charlesbridge Publishing, Watertown, MA.
Adam shares his experience on working with the Maplewood Arts Council and Art In Motion: “We artist types are often cave dwellers ourselves; we make for friendly neighbors, but what we do is so often invisible or inaccessible. “Have you done anything I might have seen?” never has a direct or easy answer. The chance to be part of Art In Motion, and to partner in some noticeable way to the area I’ve lived in, shopped in, and raised my children in for twenty years, was a welcome change. And it’s only because we get to live in an area that provides these opportunities—for so many of the creative professionals it has long attracted—in ways that are both approachable and serious at the same time. It welcomes artists in as local business owners, which is a new concept, and pretty nice, I’d have to say.”
Other works by Adam Gustavson:
The Froggies Do Not Want To Sleep, Charlesbridge. Upcoming 2021. Gouache and watercolor on paper.
Highland Avenue Mural, Orange, NJ. Flashe Vinyl paint on panel.
Swimmer (Samothrace study), from an ongoing series of personal work. Gouache on board.
Adam Gustavson. Photo Credit: Rich Silivanch.
adam@adamgustavson.com
http://adamgustavson.com
Instagram: @gustavsonadam
Art In Motion, presented by the Maplewood Arts Council (MAC), is a collection of eight paintings that hang on the tunnel walls of the Maplewood Train Station underpass. MAC received 100 applications solicited from artists living along the Morris and Essex train line. 100% of donations for Art In Motion went to paying the artists for their work, and for the installation and maintenance of the paintings. Major sponsors for Art In Motion: The Able Baker, [words] Bookstore, Pollock Properties Group, and Michael Choy & Shannon Moffet. Big thanks to NJ Transit, and Maplewood’s Department of Public Works.