Community Events

Currently on display through July 11, 2008

Erdman Art Gallery Exhibit: “Passion of Christ for Us”
Weekdays: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Saturday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sunday, 2:30–9:00 p.m.
Erdman Center, 20 Library Place, Center of Continuing Education
Free and open to the public

“Passion of Christ for Us” features paintings by Philip Lee Smith. As poets use words to give meaning to our world, artists use paint. Philip Lee Smith, a self-defined “lover of beauty,” senses the poetry around us but needs paint and brush to express in physical terms his thoughts in visual images. The challenges to create—to add something to the beauty of nature—is fundamental to his painting.

Smith’s art changes with the varied “looks” of the universe. Whether his painting is used to analyze a scientific principle, or to philosophize about an expanding universe or rejoice in God’s great gifts, he is trying to deliver a message. In that sense he considers himself a “message painter,” using both abstract and represenational forms to make his statement. And the emotional response to the message may be one of hope, wonder, or a simple reminder of a viewpoint the viewer may share. A scientist by education and a business executive by trade and education, Smith gained his training as a painter after retirement.

The exhibit and opening reception are free and open to the public.

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July 13, 2008 through September 6, 2008

Erdman Art Gallery Exhibit: First Annual Visual Arts Exhibit of the Mercer County Teen Arts Festival
Weekdays: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Saturday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sunday, 2:30–9:00 p.m.
Erdman Center, 20 Library Place, Center of Continuing Education
Free and open to the public

Beginning July 13 and continuing through September 6, the Erdman Art Gallery presents the First Annual Visual Arts Exhibit of the Mercer County Teen Arts Festival. The exhibit features student artworks selected by guest artists during the May 16 Teen Arts Festival at Mercer County Community College.

The exhibit includes thirty-one selected works from students who attend Crockett Middle School in Hamilton, Trenton Catholic Academy in Hamilton, Daylight/Twilight High School in Trenton, and John Witherspoon Middle Schhol in Princeton.

“The Visual Arts Exhibit at the Erdman Gallery is another venue through which we can share the considerable artistic talents of our young people in Mercer County,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “This exhibit is open for a limited time, so I encourage anyone who appreciates art to view this collection.”

There will be a reception for the artists on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Erdman Art Gallery.

For more information about the Teen Arts Festival, call 609.989.6899 or visit www.nj.gov/counties/mercer/commissions/cultural/teen.html.

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• contact for more information