Tag Archives: fun in Monmouth County

Imagine, Envision, Create! Monmouth Arts has a plan for a thriving arts community

Posted on by
Reply

After 18 months of research and assessment the Monmouth Arts is excited to share the updated County Arts Plan – Imagine//Envision//Create..  The plan builds on the success of the original Blueprint for the Arts and identifies challenges for the future. 

Clearly Superstorm Sandy has brought new challenges with so many towns needing to rebuild their boardwalks, businesses and homes.  It is a testament to how connected our artists and arts groups are to their communities that they responded immediately in so many ways.

At Monmouth Arts, as soon as we got electricity back we opened our office to those without heat, light and internet.  We compiled information on resources for artists, arts groups and businesses and reached out to assess how the hurricane had impacted them.  We were able to connect those in needs to resources, sometimes within minutes thanks to social media.

This effort became ArtHelps which included an Indiegogo campaign to bring artists and arts groups to rebuild spirits in communities hardest hit by Sandy and to help Monmouth Arts provide programs, services and information to artists and arts groups dealing with the aftermath of the storm. 

Two River Theater’s lobby became a community recharging station for both people and Electronics.  Colorest opened their studio space to artists who needed space.  Belmar Arts Council suspended their programs and jumped in to help their town when their space was taken over for a relief staging area.  Belmar then asked their Arts Council to paint the concrete barriers along Ocean Aveenue to lift spirits.  Middletown Arts Center gave respite to out of school students (and their parents) with a place for creative activities.  Atlantic Highlands Arts Council quickly changed an upcoming concert into a benefit for their town.  The Ministry of Artistic Intent brought over 40 local musicians, poets, artists and comedians together to benefit the Monmouth Arts’ and the Union Beach Middle School’s Band.  And the Asbury Park Musical Heritage Foundation decided this was the time to take on an exhibition/performance space to give people another reason to visit Asbury Park.

The arts can help with both the emotional and economic impact of the storm.  We can give those working to restore their lives respite from this hard work.  We can enliven downtowns with performances and exhibitions even if the beaches and boardwalks aren’t yet open.  Artists can help communities traumatized by the storm to express their loss and hope for the future.  The arts community can be part of community and economic planning taking place through our towns, the county and long term recovery efforts. 

The updated plan will take us through 2017 which may be a little hard to imagine.  As we learned this fall we can plan, but the unexpected happens.  As with the original plan, it does not belong to the Monmouth County Arts Council’s or any one organization.  It’s up to all of us to move the arts forward in the county and as the expression goes be the change we want to see.  We invite every artist, arts group and arts supporter to see how you can Imagine/Envision/Create a place where the arts contribute to Monmouth County’s future.

 

Mary Eileen Fouratt
Executive Director, Monmouth Arts

photo credit: Jellymon via photopin cc

Baby it’s cold outside!

Posted on by
3

The Inkwell Coffee House

Coffee: it’s not just for breakfast anymore!  The coffee craze has been in and out of vogue throughout history.  It’s a cultural phenomenon with its own rituals and plenty of noteworthy references –from the coffee klatch to the coffee break and even some great songs like, “Black Coffee” made famous by singers like Sarah Vaughan & Ella Fitzgerald. 

I remember TV commercials for Sanka –which is all my aunt Sarah ever drank (bringing her own Sweet & Low packets she’s absconded from the local Howard Johnson’s) at all my mother’s Tupperware parties.  And I remember the old adage, “fill it to the rim, with Brim” after the dangers of caffeine hit the presses.  But we’ve come a long way since Chock Full O’ Nuts and Ricardo Montalban.  If it was the 80’s that set us up for the serve, then the 90’s were the grand slam of Arabica proportions! 

A beautifiul macciato at Cafe Volan, Asbury Park

Just before the turn of the century into the new millennium, Starbucks would set up shop on virtually every street corner in NYC (there were 3 of them in Cooper Square) and in every shopping mall from coast to coast.  Eventually even McDonalds would attempt to get their market share.  But there’s more to coffee than big business; there’s an underlying subculture surrounding this bean juice that endures even to this day.  You can feel the vibe at hipster coffee joints like Café Volan in Asbury Park, but the real deal can be found in Long Branch at the Inkwell Coffee House –one of the few coffee houses to remain intact and true to form.  The Inkwell does, as one might assume, serve a wide variety of specialty coffees and teas, including their signature (and decadent) Dutch Coffee, brewed with butter, cream and sugar then topped with whipped cream.  But just as important as their fair trade wares is the fact that they provide weekly live entertainment and open mic nights –which is what makes a coffee house a “coffeehouse” to begin with. 

The Inkwell as been around since the 70’s, when coffee houses were all the rage amongst teens and beatniks who would read their poetry & sing folk tunes to kindred spirits in the night.  That’s another important aspect of a true coffee house –they don’t cater to commuters and Wall Street crime lords.  It’s not the 5 am – 2 pm crowd they’re targeting.   Inkwell wakes from its slumber and opens its doors around 6 or 7 in the evening most days and stays open until around 2 or 3 am!  Here you’ll find university students, night owls, artists, poets, and musicians –savoring inexpensive snacks and enjoying delicious refreshments while enjoying local talent.  It’s as relevant to the Monmouth County music scene’s cultural heritage just as much as the Count Basie Theatre & Stone Pony would be considered.  If you haven’t checked it out –there are plenty of cold winter nights left to go grab a mug of Dutch Coffee heaven!  The Inkwell is located at 665 2nd Ave in Long Branch.  Winter hours are as follows: Mondays through Fridays from 7 pm until 3 am, Saturdays from 6:30 pm – 4 am, and Sundays from  6:30 pm – 2:30 am.

 

K.D. Lang perfoms Black Coffee.

Also – check out some of the links in the first paragraph especially – some great campy vintage stuff in there!

Carl Chesna
Monmouth Arts Music Blogger 

The City Where Music Lives

Posted on by
Reply
Monmouth County’s phoenix-like Asbury Park has been branded as the City “where music lives” thanks to a vigilant marketing campaign championed by City Manager Terry Reidy. Any mention of this city by the sea conjures up arich musical history with venues like

The Stone Pony

 The Paramount Theater, Convention Hall and in more recent years The Stone Pony and The Saint. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to entertainment in what was once known the “Queen City.” There are new places to discover popping up all the time.

 

The Wonder Bar

Chico’s House of Jazz, The Wonder Bar, McCloone’s Supper Club, and The Press Room are a few of them that have hit the scene over the last decade; and then you have music in many of the amazing restaurants to be discovered in Asbury Park as well.
 

Marilyn Schlossbach’s culinary empire has its own music division, “Kitschens Entertainment,” which is run by hot-sauce guru Pete Mantas who books killer bands on the boardwalk at Langosta Lounge as well as downtown at Trinity & The Pope. Other places you can catch some great shows are Holdfast Records (click on their link to check out some shows) the on Cookman Avenue above Russo Music, Georgie’s Bar on Fifth Avenue, Johnny Mac’s on Main and Ivan & Andy’s downtown. And there are others –basically any given night of the week, all year round, there’s something going down! If Priscilla is more your speed, Cee ‘Mour Cox’s “Drag Wars” is happening on the down low every Monday night at La Sierra on Main Street. Yes, there’s truly something for everyone…

For more on that note, check out the trailer below for documentary, “Asbury Park Musical Memories” by local film producer Susan Pellegrini.

 

 

 

Carl Chesna
Monmouth Arts Music Blogger