past exhibits

ART GALLERY OPENING RECEPTION // QUILTY PLEASURES
Atrium Art Gallery of Chester
50 North Road, Chester, NJ 07930
Join us for an evening of culture, live music, and fellowship to welcome and admire the work of local artists from the Chester quilting group Quilty Pleasures with live music by the Chester Baroque Orchestra. Quilty Pleasures will be on display at the gallery from October 2024 through January 2025. The gallery is open Monday-Friday 9AM-4PM, except holidays. For more information follow us on Facebook at @AtriumArtGalleryofChester.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: BLOCK BY BLOCK
Quilty Pleasures is a group of passionate quilters who meet twice monthly in Chester. In 2023, we introduced ourselves to the community with a showing of our work at the Atrium Art Gallery of Chester. Now, in 2024, we will dissect a quilt and look at its most basic component, the quilt block – truly the building block of our art. The centerpiece of the exhibit shows how quilt blocks are ultimately combined to form a quilt. On one side of the gallery, you will see single quilt blocks done in the most traditional, basic way using primary colors, and on the other side of the gallery we will take the same blocks in an exciting, contemporary direction. We would like our viewers to leave with an appreciation not just of the lowly quilt block but also for the many fascinating names that generations of quilters have called these blocks – a big part of the language of quilting.
For information on Quilty Pleasures please contact Bea Hailes @ 973-886-5469.

MARGARET COMPTON
June 5, 2024 – September 2024
OPENING RECEPTION
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
6-7PM
@ Atrium Art Gallery of Chester, 50 North Road, Chester, NJ
The Atrium Art Gallery of Chester will be hosting their next opening reception on Wednesday, June 5. Join us for a night of culture and fellowship to admire the work of local Margaret Compton. Her work will be on display at the gallery from June through September 2024. The gallery is open Monday-Friday 9AM-4PM, except holidays.
About the artist…
I’ve always loved observing the world around me. The beauty in nature, people & animals. My love of art has been with me since my youth. The last several years made me focus on this passion I have always loved. In my gallery, you will see custom work that was done for my clients. The landscapes of Ireland and the beauty of locales in America are featured. Pet, people & family paintings are also on display. The medium used is acrylic paint. Accepting commissions for landscapes, pets & people portraits. Pricing upon request. Take time to explore my work and let me know what you think. Follow me on social media or sign up for my newsletter to hear updates about what I am working on and where you can see my art in person.
For more information about Compton’s work please visit https://margaretcomptonart.com/.
March 19, 2024 – May 31, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION
MARCH 19, 2024
6-7PM
@ Atrium Art Gallery of Chester, 50 North Road, Chester, NJ
The Atrium Art Gallery of Chester will be hosting their next opening reception on Tuesday, March 19. Join us for a night of culture and fellowship to admire the work of local portrait artist Carol Duerwald. Her work will be on view at the gallery until May 31, 2024. The gallery is open Monday-Friday 9AM-4PM, except holidays. If you are interested in making a purchase, please contact the artist at (908) 879 5722.
About the artist…
Carol Duerwald has been a signature member of the Pastel Society of America for almost 50 years. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in New York City at The National Arts Club with the American Artists Professional League, at The Salmagundi Club with The Pastel Society of America, and on Long Island at the Heckscher Museum of Art. She has won numerous awards including “Best in Show” and “Best Figure in Pastel” from the American Artists Professional League, and has exhibited in numerous galleries in Vermont, New York, and New Jersey. Duerwald has taught classes in Rochester, NY and at the Somerset Art Association, she has appeared in the publication The Best of Pastel 2, selected by the Pastel Society of America, and was featured in Pastel Artist International. She is well known for her commissioned portrait paintings and her warm personal interactions with her many clients. She maintains a home and studio in Chester, NJ. If you have questions or are interested in making a purchase, please contact Carol Duerwald at (908) 879-5722.

QUILTY PLEASURES
October 17, 2023 – November 30, 2023
Opening reception: Tuesday, October 17 – 6-7PM
Join us for an evening of visual arts by the talented Chester quilting group Quilty Pleasures and live music by the gifted Chester Baroque Orchestra at the Atrium Art Gallery. Light refreshments will be served.
What is Quilty Pleasures?
Quilty Pleasures is a quilt group based right here in Chester, although many of our members are from other towns in the area. We meet twice a month. Most of our quilters have some – or a great deal – of quilting and sewing experience; however, while we do not technically teach quilting, we are proud to say that we do encourage and mentor newer quilters who take the initiative to begin an apprenticeship.
Quilting? Isn’t that a dying art?
The answer is a resounding no! There are an estimated thirty million active sewists (a person who sews, especially as a hobby) in the US and Canada, and the quilting industry anticipates $5 billion in sales by 2026-27.
Who are these quilters?
The average quilter begins to quilt in her 50’s, not surprisingly an age when time, space and income are more available, and empty nests may be filled with quilting paraphernalia.
I like modern things. Isn’t quilting old fashioned?
While many quilters love to carry on the beloved traditions and techniques of the past, it is an evolving craft, constantly moving into the present. New tools, fabrics, computerized sewing machines and designs are one of the reasons for that $5 billion estimate. There are many quilters who use recycled fabrics and basic sewing machines to create extraordinary pieces, but many more are quilting product consumers who attend huge shows all over the country to see the latest in quilting trends. These days, contemporary designs, colors and patterns will appeal even to the staunchest minimalist. A quilt may be a wall hanging, a table runner or an article of clothing. It is not just a bed covering. An art quilt is literally a piece of art that happens to be quilted. It may feature thread painting, hand-dyed fabrics, painted fabrics and dozens of other innovative techniques – in short, not your grandmother’s quilt, as cherished as that may be. This is decidedly not an art form frozen in the past.
What do these quilts represent?
The exhibit is comprised of small quilts made by Quilty Pleasures members. Some are made by quilters with decades of experience; others are made by members who are relatively new to quilting. Please look at the card by each quilt for information on the quilter and the quilt and also at the slide show with pictures of larger quilts by our members. Quilters are bound not only by a passion for their craft but also by the friendship and camaraderie that is intrinsic to being a part of a quilt group. That is the one thing that remains unchanged over the centuries.
Quilty Pleasures meets at The Chester Library on the second Thursday of each month from 10:00 to 1:00 and at The Chester Community Presbyterian Church on the fourth Thursday of each month from 10:30 to 1:30. For information please call Bea Hailes 973-886-5469.


























Jane Biron
“SUMMER 2023”
May 16, 2023 – September 15, 2023
Opening reception – Tuesday, May 16, 2023, 6-7PM
I haven’t ever not been an artist. I remember drawing murals on the walls of our home with crayons. Now I use paint. Early on I got my hands on my father’s Brownie camera and began taking family photos. As a teenager, my brother built me a darkroom. My fascination with images and capturing moments in time perpetuates to this day. I am never without a camera. I spent six years in Art Schools in the late 60’s and early 70’s – Ringling School of Art, School ofVisual Arts, and Art Students League – only changing institutions in an attempt to study with the best teachers available at the time – Chuck Close, Brice Marden, Mel Bochner, Will Barnet, etc.
My goal was to have the most well-rounded education possible.
I draw. I paint. I sculpt. I take photographs. I sew. I weave. One thing leads to another. I enjoy rituals and one of my favorites is photographing reflective sunsets. You can spot me
most nights on the bridge over the Black River, awaiting the perfect moment, as the most vivid colors appear. I am obsessed with capturing nature’s wild and yet subtle changes. SUMMER 2023 is composed of some of my most recent paintings of bonfires. Currently several of my bonfire paintings are on display at the Noyes Museum in Atlantic City. One of the paintings was chosen as the show announcement flyer, poster, and catalog cover photo for the New Jersey Arts Annual 2023.
I love the colors of flames and smoke as they ascend through a sunset. The name bonfire says it all for me – luminosity, brilliance, vivacity of imagination.
When I teach my desire is to share information with enthusiasm. I wouldn’t call my methods orthodox, but if students are willing to pay attention to what I offer, they can definitely benefit. I consider myself a visiting artist, more so than a teacher. I have “enlightened” children at Camp Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania and at the Hunterdon Museum in New Jersey. And for three years I have instructed adults at Chester Borough’s Field House where I’ll be again this coming fall beginning on September 19, 2023.
For more information visit JaneBiron.com.
If you have any questions about the Atrium Art Gallery please contact Lisa Gurzo, Recreation Director @ recreation@chesterborough.org.