The Waiting Room
Here you sit in a window … a world between worlds. Welcome to the waiting room, the portal between past and future.
KNOMAD
Sweet Atlantic City
Sweet Atlantic City
After seeing the old photos left behind in the taffy warehouse, it made me think of my grandparents who met in Atlantic City while my grandfather was training the diving horses on the beach. I imagined them in love and enjoying salt water taffy on the boardwalk during simpler times.
As an upholsterer for the Atlantic City casinos, it was important for me to incorporate sewing techniques and furniture design to create the feeling of nostalgia that everyone who has grown up here has felt at some point in time.
I wanted to keep my pieces as true to Atlantic City history as I could, so most of the fabric used in this space is vintage dead-stock textile sourced from a local casino-hotel. The chairs are antiques while the ottoman, hearts and mirrors are all custom-built.
Heather Shawne
The Orange Loop
The Orange Loop
The Orange Loop is named after the section of the Monopoly board looping around New York, St. James and Tennessee Avenues. Once an eyesore it is now becoming a destination just off the AC boardwalk. My art concept gives a fun “Mr. Rodgers “ trolly ride peek at this new neighborhood of local restaurant & eateries, a beer hall, BBQ pit, a coffee shop and community minded studios.
Helen Clymer “Painted Lady Studio”
Sewing & Us
Sewing & Us
The installation depicts the narrative of the relationship between a woman, her sewing machine, and her grandchild. Conceicao Duarte is my grandmother who has spent her entire life as a Seamstress after being taken out of school at the fourth grade level. Her life has circled around constructing garments from material to a finished product to support her family as they built a life in Portugal, then restarted in America during the 80's. I grew up spending sick days from school curled up in a cane-backed chair in her store front, listening to the repetition of needle and thread as my mother and grandmother altered clothing for customers.
My vision for the installation is to transform a space to this familiar memory curled up in a chair to a moment of honoring her legacy. The two main points of focus are her old sewing machine and a portrait of her hanging from the ceiling that is printed on fabric and embroidered. Between the two points, the continuous stream of thread moves from the sewing machine bobbin into a chaotic, but organized, web and transforms into the materials used to embellish the portrait of Conceicao. By utilizing materials to connect both points, a juxtaposition between an industrialized object, process of production, and a moment of honor are shown in one connected thought.
The personal connection between machine and portrait comes from my personal exploration in sewing garments for my own healing following the death of my grandfather, Conceicao's husband. My healing comes from a skillset she depended on to provide for her family.
Danielle Adelaide
@danielle.adelaide.art | @danielle.adelaide.art | danielleadelaide.com
Nostalgia is Fleeting
Nostalgia is Fleeting
Nostalgia can be tainted. There is a struggle to balance then and now. Oftentimes, we look back at once seemed to be simple pleasures, but are now iconic. We will look back 20 years from now, or even less, and reach for nostalgia. Is it an escape from the present, or is it pushing against the negative past and putting pleasures of the time on a pedestal?
When I was younger, I believed the world used to be black and white, and at some point in time, the world turned color. With no familiarity of the world before, only the current moment seemed to have color. Then, the world was overly saturated, in your face with neons, brightly colored toys, candies, magazines, marketing. At some point, we look back and feel dullness in the present. The world seems to lose color.
Nostalgia is a look in the past to bring color to the present, but in time, we'll seem to long for this current moment. Color always exists. Good memories, even in the bad exist and can be found. The past is no better than the present.
Find Color.
Annaliese Sylvester
Dear Tooth Fairy
Dear Tooth Fairy
Our piece is a recollection of the childhood excitement over the tooth fairy.
We made this piece as a family because it was a joyous part of raising our children and we wanted to share with viewers the fantasy and innocence of this experience.
Cara, John & Maya Vaughn
The Candy Parlor
The Candy Parlor
“The Candy Parlor, a tribute by Miko Beach to his late father, draws inspiration from shared moments of movie-watching and candy indulgence. Nostalgia takes center stage as Miko incorporates a vintage 90s TV and VCR, creating a space that feels like a personal sanctuary for his dad. The blend of colorful elements with dark undertones evokes a captivating fusion of gothic and Candyland aesthetics. Painted canvases of cherished candies, adhesive sprinkles, and hand-painted pink, candy-like text add a unique touch. Stepping in evokes a sense of returning to the magic of cherished childhood memories.”
Miko Beach
Pop-Drip
Pop-Drip
Jade
The Stare Well
The Stare Well
Blacklight reactive installation inspired by neon nights in Atlantic City and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where nothing is as it seems and dreams become reality.
Tabitha Brown (Andromedia Art)
No Bitter Without The Sweet; No Sweet Without The Bitter
No Bitter Without The Sweet; No Sweet Without The Bitter
"Bitter/Sweet" is my art installation created for "ARTeriors at The James" and inspired by the former James Candy Company on the iconic Atlantic City Boardwalk. The concept explores the duality of two opposing forces in an immersive experience featuring found and repurposed confectionery materials. The aesthetic is a push and pull between the bold/expressive BITTER and the soft/ethereal SWEET.
As you move through the space, I invite you to notice the found materials that have been given a second life, such as...
“Wall paper” made from store wrapping paper;
Wicker chairs revamped into my version of “peacock chairs”;
Baker’s racks used as “moveable frames” for cellophane paintings;
Metal sheet pans now “canvases” for the portrait paintings;
James candy sign turned into a “stencil” for floor painting;
Candy box “mobiles” suspended from the ceiling.
In creating this space, I’ve pushed outside my boundaries to explore new materials, process, application, and unique ways of visual storytelling.
Allowing yourself to consider… where SWEET and BITTER converge.
Chanelle René
@beingchanellerene | chanellerene.com
Chanelle René is an award-winning, New Jersey contemporary figurative painter and mural artist. Her use of vibrant colors and painterly brushstrokes in oils and mixed media often celebrate the feminine figure to create narrative and engaging works from original canvases to large-scale murals. Chanelle has exhibited nationally and internationally with works held in private and public collections. A self-taught artist, she embraced the ‘pandemic pause’ to transition from a 20+ year career in digital marketing to become a full-time artist. A true believer that anyone can ‘shine your vibe’ at any stage of life, Chanelle’s artwork embodies endless possibilities.
