Maplewood Arts & Culture Presents:
Reflecting Refuge

Read Article Written from NJ ARTS

This exhibit features the works of contemporary NJ-based artist Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar. The tent pictured in the graphic is the first in her series of refugee tents fabricated using unconventional materials as metaphors. For this new installation, the shelter will be constructed from reflective Mylar—a fragile material mirroring the precarious boundaries refugees depend on for survival. Embodied in this exhibit are stunning gouaches of refugees.

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 14 | 5 - 8 PM
On View: Saturdays and Sundays from 1 - 4 PM
8/16, 8/17, 8/23, 8/24, 8/30, 8/31, 9/6, 9/7

Additional viewings on request:
Call 973-843-7157 or email Stacey Ross-Trevor at sross-trevor@maplewoodnj.gov

Closing Reception: Friday, September 5 | 5 - 8PM
Canopy Revealed and Enhanced Limited Edition Prints for Sale, Light Refreshments.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)—a nonprofit dedicated to housing advocacy and supporting individuals at risk of homelessness.
1978 Arts Center
1978 Springfield Avenue
Maplewood, NJ

Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar’s Statement on Reflecting Refuge
”Reflecting Refuge is the culmination of ideas that first took shape several years ago, when I began learning more deeply about the plight of refugees in our global community. It began in 2015 when the civil war in Syria started to seep into my small media bubble. At the time, as a Mom of two young children, the horrors of the refugee families were heart-wrenching. I began painting gouaches of the refugees and how the media portrayed them.

Fast forward to today: the media avalanche has only intensified, and the number of displaced people has grown exponentially. Those early works from ten years ago could still hang on these walls as if they were taken from the news just hours ago.

My work has always been about pulling issues from the shadows, issues that many would rather we not extend our attention to. With this project, my hope is to create a piece that can only come to life through the energy and input of the community. By inviting participants to contribute pieces to be sewn into the work, we create a collective act of solidarity and love: a shelter woven over a fragile reflective tent, fully aware that the tent exists both directly and indirectly because of all of us.

We are the tent. We are the protection, the cause, and the vulnerability it symbolizes.

My hope is that, together, we build a “hug” suspended over the tent, offering shelter to all who walk beneath it. The paper, materials, and sewing were all acting as metaphors for mending what is broken. We will create, together, a refuge from chaos and hate, and an awakening to the power of one voice joining many, forming a collective rally cry for our most basic love for humanity and for each other”. -Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar

Call for Community Participation:
With this project comes a unique invitation to community members. For the piece to be fully realized, Christine calls for your insight, creativity, and energy.

At the gallery, you’ll find panels of sewing pattern paper. I invite you to trace your hand(s) and then write a word or phrase, or draw a symbol that represents what safety, help, identity, or refuge means to you. You’re welcome to use any language or any symbols that feel meaningful. Her only request is that you include the traced outline of your hand(s).

Feel free to take the papers home, work on them in your own time and space, and then return them. Once collected, she will sew all of these pieces together to create the screen that will be suspended above the reflective tent.

Be as creative as you like: add materials from home, use your own papers or fabrics, incorporate collage elements, or simply use words if drawing or painting isn’t your thing.

The most important part is that you join in.

When the project is complete, she will invite you to come back and see what you have built together. Know that your voice and your hands are woven into this shared refuge and that you are part of a collective act of care and solidarity.

Read Artist Bio/Statement Here
Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar Website

Reflecting Refuge Call To High School Students

A Call to High School Students Seeking a Unique Artistic Experience and Community Service Hours! High School Student Sign-Up Form.

Christine Sauerteig-Pilaar is inviting high school students who are interested in earning community service hours for Honor Society, clubs, or other academic requirements to join her in creating a life-size refugee tent made of reflective Mylar.

She’d love your help on this one-day build, and in return, she will provide pizza and other treats, plus a signed letter confirming your service hours.

If you’re interested in the arts (whether as an extracurricular passion or a potential career), this is a wonderful opportunity to get hands-on experience and ask her any questions you might have about working as a professional artist.

Installation Date: August 13, 2025 Time: 12 – 4 PM
1978 Maplewood Arts Center
1978 Springfield Ave
Maplewood, NJ.

Please fill out the High School Student Sign-Up Form by August 6th so she can plan accordingly.

Click Here To See Information About The Reflecting Refuge Exhibition

Call for Art: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Deadline to Submit: August 19, 2025
Exhibition Dates: September 19 – October 19, 2025
Location: 1978 Maplewood Arts Center

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we invite all Latin American artists and creators from Maplewood, South Orange, and surrounding areas to submit work for an upcoming exhibition that explores heritage, identity, resistance, and vision of the Latino community and their influence, importance and cultural heritage.

This curated show aims to honor the rich complexity of Latin American cultures while fostering dialogue around contemporary issues and future possibilities.

Who Can Apply
We welcome submissions from all Latin American artists residing in Maplewood, South Orange, and the surrounding areas, whose work resonates with the curatorial theme and brings a reflective perspective of the Latino identity and culture.

Exhibition Details
 - Submission deadline: August 19th, 2025
 - Selected artists notified:  August 22nd, 2025
 - Artwork drop-off: September 8th – 12th, 2025
 - Installation: September 15th – 18th, 2025
 - Opening reception: September 19th, 2025
 - Exhibition on-view: September 19th – October 19th, 2025
 - Artwork pickup: October 20th – 25th, 2025

All mediums accepted.

All works will be featured on the Maplewood Arts & Culture website and included in The 1978 official exhibition catalog.

Works may be available for sale during the exhibition.

How to Submit
All submissions must be received by August 19, 2025.