IN THE ARTS

The Monmouth Folk Dancers offer free folk dance instruction Tuesday evenings through Aug. 28 at Marine Park in Red Bank. Beginners are welcome; no experience is needed. Instruction runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and dancing continues until 10 p.m. In the event of rain, dancing will be held at the United Methodist Church of Red Bank, 247 Broad St. For more information, visit www.monmouthfolkdancers.org or call (732) 747-4831.

The Montclair Art Museum is accepting submissions for consideration to be exhibited in the New Jersey Arts Annual: Crafts through Sept. 15. The Arts Annual is a unique series of fine arts and crafts exhibitions highlighting the works of visual artists and craftspeople in the state. The juried show is open to any artist currently living or working in New Jersey. The exhibition theme will be "Tribal Roots in the Garden State." The exhibition will open Feb. 24. The museum is located at 3 S. Mountain Ave. in Montclair. Additional information is available on the Web site www.montclairartmuseum. org or by calling (973) 746-5555, ext. 242. There is no entry fee.

Nessa Neilson Morse of Shrewsbury currently has a number of selected pastels and watercolors on display at the Holdmel Township Gallery, located at the intersection of Crawford's Corner/Everett Road and Holmdel Road. Her paintings include scenes of local vistas and beyond. Morse is a retired Middletown High School North art teacher and currently teaches for the Art Department at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft. Her local affiliations include the Guild of Creative Art, the Plein Air Painters of the Jersey Coast, and the Monmouth County Arts Council. Morse's work will be exhibited through Aug. 30.

In recognition of his nearly 45- year involvement in the traditional country music realm, singersongwriter Jim Murphy of Brick will be inducted into America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame Aug. 28. The ceremony will take place during the National Traditional Country Music Association's (NTCMA) annual old time music festival held in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Murphy is the first artist from New Jersey to be recognized by the NTCMA, which has been inducting artists since 1976.

Murphy's professional affiliation with country music started in 1963 when he began hosting the Country and Folk Concert program on WJLK radio, Asbury Park. He formed his band, Jim Murphy and the Pine Barons, in 1969, focusing on authentic traditional country music presented in the bluegrass style. The group quickly gained a considerable regional following and remains a mainstay of the legendary Albert Music Hall, in Waretown, in the heart of the Pinelands.

In 1998 Murphy took home four awards from the Traditional Music Association (now merged with the NTCMA), including Album of the Year, for his CD "NewBilly Music." His latest recording, "Go New Jersey," is devoted entirely to people, places and events in his home state, with "Garden State Waltz" receiving wide airplay as a single.

Murphy has a passionate interest in the music and memory of Hank Williams and served on the board of directors of the Hank Williams International Society for 10 years.

Murphy joins this year's honorees, which include Mel McDaniel and Charlie McCoy, plus more than two dozen others. The weeklong festival will also feature a performance by Murphy. Among past inductees are such notables as Johnny and June Carter Cash, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe and Ernest Tubb.

Ocean Grove presents free organ recitals in the Great Auditorium on Pilgrim and Ocean pathways, Wednesdays and Saturdays, through Aug. 29. The concerts will feature resident organist Gordon Turk and special guest organists plus young virtuosi from the Curtis Institute of Music, Stephanie Liem, Nathan Laube and Joshua Stafford (Aug. 29). All shows will start at 7:30 p.m. Gordon Turk and Michael Stairs will perform a special encore concert Sept. 3. Details: (732) 775-0035 or www.oceangrove. org.

The Great Auditorium pipe organ was inaugurated July 3, 1908 and built at an original cost of $27,000. One of the largest pipe organs in New Jersey, the instrument boasts over 10,000 pipes.

By popular demand, The Brick Community Players will bring back a production of Neil Simon's comedy, "Rumors" Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. The shows will be presented at 7 p.m. at the Brick Cultural Center on Herbertsville Road. Admission is free. Reservations must be made by calling (732) 262-1006.

The Monmouth Museum located on the campus of Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, will present the photographs of Paul Lenz through Sept. 9 as part of the New Jersey Emerging Artists Series.

In this exhibit, "Reflections" Lenz says he presents a collection of images of common objects that we encounter daily without ever giving a second glance, such as parking lots, suburban streets, nursery flowers ready to be plowed back into the ground in late fall, and telephone poles, to name a few. The reflections of those objects were photographed on a variety of uneven reflective surfaces such as spoons, broken Christmas balls and more.

"I try to create an artistic experience by looking at very traditional objects in untraditional ways," he said.

Lenz will share insights on his work in a discussion at the museum during "Gallery Talk" Aug. 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. Details: (732) 747-2266.