From Shoes to Splendor: ARTeriors Baltic Avenue Transforms Disused Space
Photo above: Heather Deegan Hires, “Artist Dreamscape,” 2023. Mixed media. Alissa Eberle, “Electric Caverns,” 2023. Neon. (All photos by Rachel Fawn Alban)
In Atlantic City, a community of artists has transformed a former Payless ShoeSource into a temporary art experience featuring large-scale, mixed-media installations. On view through Feb. 19, 2023, the Atlantic City Arts Foundation welcomes you to walk in and surround yourself with ARTeriors Baltic Avenue.
At a time when tech-heavy “immersive experiences” and slick paintings generated by artificial intelligence are all the rage, ARTeriors feels refreshingly human and fun. The artists have filled every inch of the space using hand-worked, unconventional materials. Textiles have been dyed, ripped, tied, and draped over shoe racks to create colorful twisting tunnels and caverns, and around each turn awaits a new surprise. Turn right, and you may discover colorful butterflies drifting dreamily across fluffy clouds made of textiles and surrounded by wire bird cages. Turn left and wander into a festive cave constructed of neon stalagmites and stalactites suspended over reflective mylar.
Broadly themed around transition and transformation, ARTteriors, a public arts program, started in 2015 during a time of redevelopment in Atlantic City. The aim of ARTeriors is to utilize properties in transition and encourage visitors to frequent areas outside of the casinos and in the neighborhoods.
Shari Tobias, White Bird, 2023. Mixed media.
“Atlantic City itself is always transforming and transitioning, evolving into something new. We wanted to mirror that idea with ARTeriors,” explains Kate O’Malley, Interim Executive Director of Atlantic City Arts Foundation. “ARTeriors has become a source of pride for arts in Atlantic City. The artists love it, and the community comes out. It's now intrinsically tied into the identity of arts and culture in Atlantic City.”
ARTeriors Baltic Avenue is the program’s ninth iteration, and the largest. To participate, artists apply with examples of their work and a concept description for their space. A jury comprised of community members, city officials, and artists then chooses from the applicants. This time, 17 artists were chosen from the 43 applications received. Six additional volunteer artists also contributed at Baltic Avenue, for a total of 23 participating artists.
With just two weeks to create on-site, the artists took over the space with an array of materials including a boat, paint, photographs, , textiles, wire, and any objects left behind in the space. “This high-intensity environment provides a unique, creative challenge for the artist,” says O’Malley.
Lennox Warner, The Ferrymen, 2023. Mixed media sculpture with Lifeguard boat borrowed from the Atlantic City Beach Patrol.
The results are eclectic, thought-provoking and wildly creative. Artist Shari Tobias created a heavenly atelier by upcycling materials including furniture, CDs and cable wires. The installation by Heather Deegan Hires features an oversized mask made using recycled cardboard boxes, paper plates covered with many layers of paint, and salvaged car parts. A neon light installation by Philadelphia-based Alissa Eberle glitters and shines next to a moving tribute to the late Anthony Bourdain by Bernard Delacruz made of spray paint and broken vinyl records. Artist Lennox Warner used a lifeguard boat borrowed from the Atlantic City Beach Patrol as the base of his installation. Inspired by the Egyptian legend of the ferryman who carried the souls of the dead into the Underworld, Warner’s boat contains all the trash and pollution of humanity.
Victoria Katherine, Spotted Lanternfly Lair, 2023. Mixed media, textile, wire, string, carpet, acrylic paint and canvas.
Artist Victoria Katherine created an eco-conscious installation using sustainably sourced, repurposed and upcycled materials. Kathrine, who graduated from Stockton University in 2020 with a degree in sustainability, says her installation raises awareness about the ecological effects of spotted lanternflies, the invasive insects impacting agricultural crops and hardwood trees throughout New Jersey and the tristate area. “I wanted to create a big, magical forest and show the devastation and the invasion,” says Kathrine. “I added spotted lantern flies into my existing paintings – a metaphor for the way they have invaded our local environment. I have other pieces that are still clean where the lanternflies have not yet invaded. I have lanternfly drawings scattered all over the floor – because the best thing that we can do is stomp out the ones we see.”
Michelle Franzoni and community, Everyone, 2023. Acrylic, oil pastels, chalk, and crayons.
Artist Michelle Franzoni, who lives in Atlantic City, invited the local community to paint with her. “My idea was to have the community come paint and let out whatever they need to get out,” she says. “I didn't have anyone in mind. People reached out through social media and came out to paint. It happened to be mostly women who came with their children. We painted and talked about our children and our lives. It ended up being a healing process. Little kids had fun splashing all kinds of paint all over everywhere. It brought the community together. Then, I went over it with all the black paint, to pull the piece all together.”
Franzoni started painting four years ago, after losing her job in hotel management when the hotel closed and breaking up with her partner of 18 years. “I went to my mom's and started painting and got it all out. It has been a healing process for me. I paint every day and I haven't stopped since. It's like a whole new life now. I found my calling. Found my soul's purpose. I've sold over 30 paintings in four years. My art has brought me healing and community.”
Cara Vaughn, She Broke Open, 2023. Acrylic paint and mixed media.
Cara Vaughn, a trained ceramicist, has volunteered as an artist with ARTeriors for two years. At Baltic Avenue, she painted designs and faces in awkward spaces and between other artists’ installations throughout the space. Vaughn tells us, “I work intuitively. I don't ever have a plan or a sketch. I just start to draw and see what comes out. I love to do this because I don't often get an opportunity to work big. I have a very small studio space. Now I want to explore doing a mural. That's the goal.”
Vaughn, who recently moved to Atlantic City, says the local art scene has welcomed her. “I'm from Philadelphia, but I lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for the last 25 years and raised my kids there. My husband and I decided to make a change during the pandemic and moved down here. I love the art community here, and I feel inspired. I've blossomed as an artist. I feed off the energy of what everyone else is doing. There are always fun new projects. My family was going through some medical challenges and the people here just took me in and were so supportive. The energy is beautiful. The people are beautiful. The art scene feels alive and everyone's very supportive of each other.”
ARTeriors Baltic Avenue is on view until Feb. 19, 2023 – and no, there is no chance of an extension. “It is a moment in time where this vacant, disused space is alive with unbridled creativity. It's alive with potential. It's alive with what Atlantic City could be and what Atlantic City already is,” says O’Malley. “This is the nature of the program. Blink and you’ll miss it.”
