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MCCC Foundation > Ways to Give
The Art Gallery in Trenton
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MCCC Employees:
To contribute via payroll
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Mercer County Community College has a long history of excellence in the visual arts, starting in 1890, when the Evening Drawing School opened on North Broad Street in Trenton. Renamed the School of Industrial Arts in 1901, the school enjoyed its seat in Trenton, the city considered the Staffordshire of the United States because it truly led the way in the ceramics industry.
Mark Your Calendar!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
special Unveiling Event
for Mel Leipzig paintings
flyer / News announcement
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Since those early roots, Mercer's visual arts program has continued to grow. Renamed the School of Industrial Arts in 1941, then Trenton Junior College in 1947, the school became Mercer County Community College in 1966. Mercer has remained committed to the arts, maintaining its reputation for excellence in arts education.
MCCC currently has on its West Windsor Campus a community art gallery, but Mel Leipzig, a nationally renowned realist painter and professor of art and art history at the college, and other faculty and staff, are working to expand and enhance the experience of student artists at Mercer by creating an Art Gallery on Mercer's Trenton campus. This gallery will enable MCCC student artists and others to display their work and learn valuable business, management and curatorial skills.
Leipzig, a much-heralded painter, has garnered a multitude of awards and honors for his work. His pieces are part of the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Yale University Art Gallery and The White House, among others. His recognitions include a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and a grant in painting from the National Endowment for the Arts. Leipzig studied at Cooper Union, Yale University and the Pratt Institute, where he earned his M.F.A. Art critic Burton Wasserman has described him as "New Jersey's greatest living painter." During his tenure at Mercer, Leipzig has provided instruction as well as mentorship to countless aspiring and working artists.
On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the college and Leipzig co-hosted a free event at the Conference Center at Mercer to help raise funds for the Art Gallery. The highlight of the event was the unveiling of three new paintings by Leipzig. Lovers of Leipzig's art had the opportunity to purchase signed Leipzig prints or signed art booklets including a variety of his paintings. MCCC art students were also on hand to share their stories with guests.
All proceeds from the event will contribute to providing essential funds for the Art Gallery infrastructure needs such as track lighting, pedestals, projectors, flat-screens and other display requirements.
Models for the three new Leipzig paintings included students, faculty and staff of MCCC, including Jeanne Calo, a 95-year old artist and student of Leipzig for more than two decades. "The Cashiers at the College Cafeteria" portrays John Curt Leven and Tiara Goodman, and "The Math Teacher" features long-time MCCC Professor Art Schwartz.
For questions about donating to The Art Gallery in Trenton, contact Amy Frangione at MCCC’s Development Office at 609-570-3293 or e-mail frangioa@mccc.edu.
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