Two New Exhibits Opening, March 1, 2-5 pm at the Hoboken Historical Museum
"Up and Down the River: A History of the Hudson, 1609 - 2009"
Join the Hoboken Historical Museum on Sunday, March 1, for a free reception from 2 – 5 p.m. to kick off our latest exhibition, "Up and Down the River: A History of the Hudson, 1609 – 2009."
It's a rare chance to celebrate a quadricentennial. A hundred years ago this fall, New York City threw a two-weeklong public celebration of a double anniversary: the tricentennial of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river that now bears his name and the centennial (plus two) of Robert Fulton's first successful steamboat crossing in 1807. One of the largest public anniversaries in the country's history, offices and factories closed and the number of commuter trains doubled to handle the crowds for the banquets, parades, historical floats, theatrical performances, lectures, fireworks and an airplane flight by Wilbur Wright around the Statue of Liberty.
The exhibit will extend through the end of the year to accommodate a full agenda of talks, events, educational programs and art celebrating the river that shaped our city's fortunes, by:
Providing food and commerce to the area's first inhabitants, the Lenni Lenape Indians;
Connecting 19th century New Yorkers to Hoboken during its incarnation as the "Elysian Fields" and home of the cup-winning yacht, America;
Bringing to its piers the grand passenger ships from Europe and later a bustling cargo trade, as depicted in the film "On the Waterfront";
Inspiring groundbreaking maritime research at the Stevens Institute of Technology;
Providing recreational activities along miles of New Jersey waterfront walkway, thanks to the advocacy of citizen activists.
For the exhibition, the Museum commissioned an original mural of the outline of Hoboken's waterfront along the length of the main wall, painted by local artist Ray Guzman. Items on display, including a scale model of a Hudson River tugboat by John Marinovich and memorabilia from the 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration, come from the Museum's own collections, as well as from the South Street Seaport Museum, Stevens Institute of Technology and the Bayonne Historical Society.
Group Art Show, "hob'art's Hoboken" Opens Sunday, Mar. 1
Eight members of the cooperative gallery, hob'art, have contributed works that focus on Hoboken and reflect a personal view of the city for the Upper Gallery exhibit, "hob'art's Hoboken," which opens Sunday, Mar. 1, with a reception from 2 – 5p.m. Admission is free.
The public is invited to meet the artists and see their interpretations of Hoboken in photographs and other media, including painting on silk, which will be on display through April 12. The participating artists are Elizabeth Cohen, Tom Eagan, Femi Ford, Andrea Milo, Virginia Parrott, Roslyn Rose, Leona Seufert and Sissi Siska.
The artists will return for a panel discussion about their works on Sunday, March 29 at 4 p.m., titled "Art in a New Era." The group's president, Elizabeth Cohen, will lead off with a brief statement about hob'art's mission and aims for the immediate future, then each panelist will explain how he or she individually used both traditional techniques and modern technology to capture an individual view of Hoboken. ◦
