Artists find welcoming reception at Arc gallery
BY AMY ROSEN Staff Writer
Anyone who frequents the Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold Township has noticed there are many new and exciting structural changes going on at the mall. Some of those changes go much deeper than the interior and exterior construction projects and actually touch the people of the community on a different level. Within the walls of the mall, two unique organizations have merged their efforts to help people with disabilities become confident and productive members of the community while enhancing the world through the arts.

PHOTOS BY AMY ROSEN Artist Gabriella Gonzalez poses in front of her painting "The Red Horse" which is on display at the VSA arts of New Jersey and The Arc of Monmouth Gallery at the Freehold Raceway Mall, Freehold Township.

In 1993, the previous mall owner, the Wilmorite Corp., donated space on the upper level near Sears to The Arc of Monmouth for a facility that provides job training and placement to people with disabilities. When the Macerich Company acquired the mall from Wilmorite, the new owner left The Arc in its familiar space.

"Mesmerize," an acrylic painting by Allison Doatch, is one of the many pieces of art that are on display and available for purchase at the VSA arts of New Jersey and The Arc of Monmouth Gallery in the Freehold Raceway Mall, Freehold Township.

According to Thea Strong, of Brick Township, director of employment services, The Arc of Monmouth was searching for many years for a supplemental retail operation to use the space in the storefront that would complement the existing use in that location.

This year Arc Resources Unlimited opened its doors to VSA arts of New Jersey (Vision, Strength and Artistic Expression), based in New Brunswick, which was seeking a location for a gallery at which it could display and sell the works created by artists with disabilities. Both organizations realized they shared a common goal to enrich and promote the creative energies of individuals with disabilities, thus the VSA arts of New Jersey & The Arc of Monmouth Gallery was established.

According to Vanessa A. Young, executive director of VSA arts of New Jersey, "We want people to appreciate art and see it for what it is - art for what it's worth, not disabled."

Young said plans are in the works to possibly conduct programs in music and visual arts for children with autism and their parents at the mall facility.

The art gallery officially opened in April with work by artists over the age of 18 available for purchase and work by younger students from area schools on exhibit. The exhibits will be changed four times a year (the next one will be Sept. 18 with an artists' reception from 6-8 p.m.) and the public is welcome to visit Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

According to Strong, the goal is to eventually have enough funding for staff to extend the business hours to include weekends and evenings. Volunteers are always welcome as are donations of matching grants.

On some occasions visitors might be lucky enough to encounter one of the artists at the gallery. On a recent morning, four artists were on hand and willing to talk a bit about their lives.

Allison Doatch, 24, of Edison is a winner of several artist achievement awards for her work. She enjoys working with colored pencils and charcoal and has several pieces on display at the gallery including "Ceramic Jug Still Life" and "Basket Still Life." She also has a painting done in acrylic that she calls "Mesmerize."

Doatch, who has a non-verbal learning disorder, has an associate degree in fine arts from Middlesex County College, Edison, and a bachelor of fine arts degree from Centenary College, Hackettstown. She graduated with honors and is searching for employment as a teaching assistant in a preschool. Doatch plans to continue her artwork in her spare time and hopes to continue selling her pieces. She said creating art is the thing she loves to do most and is proud of the positive response she received from her show at Centenary College, where she sold five out of the 30 pieces she had on display.

Doatch said she is grateful to have her art and VSA arts in her life. It boosts her self-esteem greatly. She is a member of the Edison Arts Society and her drawings were part of the society's Gardens of the Garden State exhibit.

An artist whose watercolors "Sea Captain," "Preparation" and "Serenade" are on display at the gallery is Anthony J. Zaremba, 65. Formerly from Brooklyn, N.Y., he currently lives in Whiting with his wife, Dorothy. He said art is his life, and painting is something that has come naturally to him since the age of 10. Zaremba's biggest influences have been Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pablo Picasso, whom he calls "the masters." He draws from his imagination or past experiences.

Zaremba recently returned from the JFK Gallery of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where one of his paintings will be featured in the gift card collection on sale at the school. His pieces are included in the permanent art collection at the Princeton Medical Center, Princeton, and the Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Center, Mount Vernon, Pa.

Zaremba attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. During that time he apprenticed for the theater doing backdrops and prop work. Not wanting to always be a starving artist, he said he pursued a career as a dental technician and made crowns and bridgework for teeth. He said he enjoyed creating teeth because it was like sculpting a piece of art. Matching the correct shades for an individual's teeth also required an artistic eye.

In 1984 Zaremba was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and lost his fine coordination in his right hand along with his job. For three years he had to retrain himself to use his left hand, and his favorite saying became, "Don't tell my right hand my left hand is doing all the work." In addition, he only has 20 percent of his vision in one eye.

According to his wife, Zaremba enters shows at least six times a year. He is very particular about his work, always striving to be as good as "the masters."

"I'm like the masters," Zaremba said. "They never stopped painting. I'm like them. I never stop."

Through his wife's efforts, the Anthony J. Zaremba Champions of Courage Enabling Garden opened at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, in 2002. The garden, sponsored by Berlex Drugs, the maker of Beta Seron, a medication that fights MS, accommodates wheelchair gardeners by providing adaptive tools, planters on pulleys, elevated garden beds and wide paver paths. For more information about the Champions of Courage Enabling Garden visit www.championsofcourage.org.

"Of all the things Anthony has done, I'm very proud of the enabling garden," Dorothy said. "When I see it I light up. People come from all over to use it. There's a waiting list for a spot."

Gabriella Gonzalez, 19, formerly of Howell and currently living in Long Branch, just started painting two years ago, but said art has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.

"I can't remember not doing artwork," Gonzalez said. "I don't look at a lot of art- work. I like a lot of colors. It brings emotion to the pictures."

Gonzalez has many paintings on display at the gallery, several of which feature a girl without a face. She said she does that because it allows people to put whatever they want into it. Her pieces also feature many colorful animals and scenes.

She said she loves being involved with VSA arts and the new gallery in the mall.

"I love seeing my work on display," she said. "I walk by and say, 'That's mine!' "

She said she has already sold six paintings from the gallery and always gets excited when she gets an envelope in the mail informing her that she sold another painting.

Gonzalez said of her future, "Even if I can't sell my paintings for a living, as long as I get to work with my hands and eyes, that would be good enough for me."

Laurie Homan, 44, of Long Branch, has several paintings on display at the gallery. She was diagnosed with MS in 1994 and became permanently disabled in 1998. In 2000 Homan began painting as a way to meditate and to reduce stress because she was allergic to the medications that could help her symptoms. She said that through diet and art she was able to reverse some of her symptoms and is now doing much better 13 years after being diagnosed.

A former police officer and national karate champion, Homan said she was not ready to be disabled and at first was not interested in using her disability to further her artistic career. But then she found VSA and met other artists who impressed her so that she did not feel bad about her disability any more.

"It made such an impact on my life to meet these people at VSA," Homan commented. "I saw an artist who was blind and it made me proud to be a part of this elite group of people when I was so afraid to be a part of that in the past. One day I would love to be able to make it on my own through my art, and the VSA has been very supportive."

Homan uses mostly mixed media to create her works of art and has many varied pieces including abstracts and nature landscapes. Her newest series is called "Perfidy," which means the breaking of trust. She said that through this series, she is making a social statement to change things in the world. The series shows many painful moments in life, including a woman who has been beaten and a child sitting at his mother's feet while she is passed out on drugs.

On her Internet Web site, Homan said, "I have been through a great deal in my life and I am a better person for it. I want to be a light in this dark world. I am proof that the human spirit can sustain a great deal of difficulty and still go on to create beauty. I want to be an example for others." She went on to say, "I finally reached the kid inside and gave her the opportunity to speak after all these years. Art brought me back to me."

Homan has sold many pieces locally and throughout the country with the help of VSA. In addition to VSA arts of New Jersey, she is a member of the Art Alliance in Red Bank, the Monmouth County Arts Council and the Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury, where she was a board member and gained associate status for her work in ink and mixed media. Her work can be viewed online at the Web site www.disabledartistsnetwork.net.

For more information about VSA arts of New Jersey visit www.vsanj.org. For more information about The Arc of Monmouth, call (732) 866-0435.