An Abundant Life - Popping Up

Last weekend Sixth Street Vintage started a series of pop-up days that will be happening over the next few months at 408 6th Street where the shop has been located for many years. Over the time that I have been starting YES Gallery the pop-up shop has been in planning stages, and it's lovely to have it begin. I've written about Sixth Street Vintage in these pages before a few times because the owner is someone whose taste is so excellent and who created a space that was always such a beautiful one to experience, and it's wonderful to be able to visit and shop with her again. She also still has estate sales that are so much fun to go to, but her shop is a special kind of place and I've already found some treasures to add to my collection, including a sweet little nightlight that I put immediately in YES Gallery as a whimsical addition to the seaside, nature and bird theme that runs throughout the artwork and the space.

As I wrote in one of my first blog posts about Sixth Street Vintage back in 2015, it is one of my dearest and most favorite places to visit and shop. The owner, Sharon Florio, is a woman of truly classic beauty and style, who brings her expertise and expert eye to fill the space with eclectic, beautiful, witty, gorgeous and thoroughly treasurable treasures. She's a treasure herself, having a store and experience that go back many years, along with exquisite taste that only selects the best of the best. Just one piece from Sixth Street Vintage can transform any room. If you're lucky enough to own several, you'll have a home full of masterpieces. You can find clothing and accessories there too, chosen with the same perfect eye for design and line.

For more information about the pop-up hours and days, visit the Instagram page in the link below and look out for the sign on the sidewalk for a wonderful shopping adventure.

Sharon Florio

On A December Day

A Few Years Ago

At Sixth Street Vintage

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.instagram.com/6streetvintage

And A Recent Sweet

Sixth Street Vintage Pop-Up Shop Find

A Shell Nightlight Complete With A Flamingo

That Made Its Way To YES Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Celebrating Blessings

I began planning an event for February 13 almost right after the last event at YES Gallery. It's part of what I try to do there to have a smaller event each month so that Artists can be celebrated and community members can have a chance to come together for more conversation that they might usually be able to have at one of the regular openings. The opening parties are lots of fun, but there are so many people coming and going that it's difficult to take the time to really talk about the art and really see the work in the gallery in depth. The smaller events give people more time together to talk and share ideas and inspiration.

Right after the last opening, I was introduced to Commissioner Romano of Hudson County, and as I wrote last week he invited me to be on his show. While we were talking during the taping, I invited him to the event on February 13, but I know how busy he is and I didn't know if he would actually be able to make it. But on the day of the event he called me to say he'd be there, and not only did he attend, but he offered to speak to the guests, and he spoke such wonderful words that made the evening a very special one.

Years ago when I was just beginning to learn monologues for auditions in college and when I moved to New York City, I had discovered a book of plays by Sam Shepard and a series of monologues titled "Savage Love" that was meant to be performed as a one person play. I chose the first in the series, one called "First Moment" for my contemporary monologue and I auditioned with that for so many things. It had been many years since I had performed it, and I'd been wanting to for a while now. I had it in my heart that I wanted to do it again at an art event, and when I opened YES Gallery I started to think that it was finally the right time and place. I kept it a surprise and only told a very few people, and on the evening of February 13, I performed it again. It was in keeping with the Valentine's theme of the evening and as I prepared it and thought of all of those years ago, I remembered times past and the people I knew and where I had been and where I am now.

The food that evening was from Cafe Vista which is just around the corner from YES Gallery. I had stopped in there one day just before my birthday and the different things I tried were so wonderful that I decided to ask if they could prepare the menu for the next small event. Everything they served was done so beautifully and with such excellence, and the tables and counters glowed with abundance.

It was such a memorable time, with so many special things on a very special evening. Every time I think about different aspects of it, all I can think of is how much I am blessed. Sharing the history of the monologue by Sam Shepard and performing it again brought back all the old memories of how wonderful his writing is and how much it opened my world and my mind and heart to what playwriting and theater could be. There were so many lovely people in the gallery that evening, and to have the Commissioner attend and speak was an honor. YES Gallery is such a beautiful place to celebrate together as a community, and to join each other and share our gifts and stories and blessings.

 

YES Gallery

Valentine's VIP Event

February 13

With Commissioner Anthony Romano And Kim Nieves

Photograph By Ray Colon

Menu By Cafe Vista

527 Monroe Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://cafevista-hoboken.com/

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Wonderful Conversations

I wrote last week about the closing celebration for Dom's Bakery which has been a neighborhood gem for more than 120 years not only for their wonderful bread but because of the generations of bakers and family members and friendships that have graced its space. Joe Sivo, the wonderful community member who invited me to the closing celebration is also a neighborhood gem, priceless in his kindness and sense of community and caring, and someone who knows and cares about so many people that being with him made it possible for me not only to attend the closing celebration, but to meet some wonderful people who I had known about but hadn't met before.

As this wonderful soul took me through the crowd to the back kitchen so that I could see the more than 120 year old coal burning oven at Dom's, he began introducing me to people along the way, letting them know that I had opened an art gallery in Hoboken, and that I wanted the door to be open for youth and families in the community to visit and enjoy a welcoming space where they could experience art of all kinds. One of the people he introduced me to as I was photographing the coal burning oven was Commissioner Anthony Romano of the 5th District at the Hudson County Board of Chosen Commissioners, a lifelong resident of Hoboken who in addition to his current roles as Vice-Chairperson of the Board of County Commissioners, Chairperson of the Public Safety Committee, Personnel Committee, Economic Development and Housing Committee, and the Senior Citizens & Veterans Affairs Committee is also a member of the Hudson County Schools of Technology Board of School Estimate, the Hudson County Community College Board of Trustees and its Board of School Estimate, and also serves as a member of the Education Committee, the Finance, Budget & Administration Committee, Public Resources Committee, and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Committee. He has an illustrious history as someone who has dedicated his life to advancing the interests of the public, having retired in the rank of Captain with the Hoboken City Police Department after more than thirty years of service making community neighborhoods safer, and he was an advocate for children long before taking his oath to represent residents at the County level. Examples of his service to local youth include a former teaching career at Hoboken High School and his current commitments as the President of the Hoboken Babe Ruth League and the Chairman of the Hoboken Municipal Alliance Against Drugs and Alcohol. He also served on the Hoboken Board of Education from 2006-2009. In addition to his service roles, he encourages academic achievement, having graduated from St. Peter's University with a B.A. in History and M.S. in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University. He later went on to complete the Command and Leadership Program at West Point and teaches as an Adjunct Professor at St. Peter's University.

On the day of the closing celebration at Dom's Bakery, Commissioner Romano was busy in his role of ensuring that the wonderful owners and staff of the bakery who had been beloved by so many were given the recognition and respect that their own years of service deserved, along with celebrating them with their family and friends in the community. When we were introduced, he took the time to speak with me, and invited me to be a guest on his show, "Stick @ Nite" and continue our conversation about the Gallery. It was such a kindness on his part, and when I followed up with him he connected me with the show's Producer who scheduled me for February 7.

It was so exciting to take the journey up to the studio and to have the opportunity to speak with Commissioner Romano on air about YES Gallery and the community events and outreach to youth and families that are part of my vision for the space. I am so grateful and full of hope for all of the possibilities for creating ways to make YES Gallery a welcoming space for everyone in the community to share art and beauty and life.

Commissioner Anthony Romano

Stick @ Nite

Hudson Media Group

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Neighborhood Classic

On the day after the third opening show party and my birthday celebration at YES Gallery, I was in the process of reorganizing and putting things back together when Joe Sivo, one of the wonderful community members who stops by on occasion, walked in the door and invited me to the closing party for Dom's, a bakery that has been making bread in a coal fired oven for generations back to more than 120 years ago.

On my way to the gallery I had walked by Dom's but the line was so long and the crowd of people outside was so large that I felt overwhelmed by the thought of waiting and wading through the throng and so I went on my way to YES Gallery, thinking that I'd never have the opportunity to try their bread and see their shop again. But God had other plans, and when Joe stopped by with his invitation, I asked him to wait a few moments while I finished up a few things and then off we went into the mild January afternoon.

The celebration was memorable for its close to home goodness, and seeing the oven where the bread has been baked for more than 120 years was a travel back in time that was a beautiful experience. I wish I could say I'll be back to Dom's, and maybe I will one day find myself in that space again when whatever happens there comes to new life, but Dom's as it was will live on in memory as something unique and special, not only because of the wonderful bread and impressive history of the oven, but because of the people who worked and lived their lives there, giving daily bread along with their friendship and care for the community.

Dom's Closing Celebration

Hoboken, New Jersey

The Last Bread Baked

The Morning of January 28

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Another Opening, Another Show

On Friday night the new show at YES Gallery, "You Arrive In A Whisper, A Wild Hope", had the opening celebration, and as I was hanging the show with the wonderful Artist Stephen Cimini who is always so much help to me in so many ways, including in preparing the space for each new opening, we both looked around the room as we were finishing up and thought that once again the current show is even better than the last one. As Artists this is always what we always want, to have everything we do be better than the last thing we did, and at YES Gallery that seems to be what happens naturally. The first show was so beautiful I couldn't have imagined anything being better, but the second show was even more gorgeous, and now that we are onto the third show the space is so lovely that I'm excited just to open the door to people who visit.

Last week as I was finishing setting up and adding the final details, visitors who came by kept admiring everything and looking at specific pieces, asking about the Artists and the gallery and saying all the things that I could hope for and more. One young visitor, when her father asked her what was her favorite, began pointing to one piece and then another and another and then finally said that she loved everything. Hearing that made me so happy and I told her that her words were what I wanted people to feel when they were in the gallery.

I'll be writing more about the individual Artists and their work soon, but for now I made another video of the space, this time with the beginning of my older brother's old Moody Blues album "A Question Of Balance" and the song "The Story In Your Eyes" in the background. I'll share it here and there will be more photographs and videos and stories soon as the show continues on and more events and visitors add their words and share their stories and make their own photographic and videographic records of their visits.

YES Gallery

"You Arrive In A Whisper, A Wild Hope"

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A New Season

It will be my birthday in just a little while, and I'm having the opening of the third show at YES Gallery as part of that celebration. I think celebrating birthdays is important, and as much as possible I try to celebrate in some way all month long and even longer if I can. This year I decided to have the opening at the gallery as part of it because it just seemed right somehow. The gallery itself is like a present I can open every day and a new show is always a reason to celebrate, so putting the two together for a big party felt like the days back when I used to have parties in my West Village and Soho apartments with so many Artists of different kinds meeting and having fun in a very comfortable and homey sort of way.

My apartments have always had a certain feeling to them, and over the years when design trends would talk about Boho Chic or Farmhouse or Shabby Chic or any of the other names they'd give to the things that I gravitated towards naturally I'd just smile when I'd see certain photographs and think, gee I have that thing or wow, I do that too, and I'd be happy that what I was already doing was somehow in style.

YES Gallery as it grows and evolves is becoming like a place that is full of the fun kinds of designs that are the signature of the places where I live. Some things I've had for years that I'm bringing in and others are more recents finds, but all of the touches around the beautiful contemporary art that is the focus of the gallery are added to help people see what it means to live with art. There are design pieces from many different eras, and some things just for fun, but whatever it is that comes into the gallery is meant to help people feel joyfully at home.

As I began to curate for this upcoming show and made plans for some new art to be shown and for new Artists to bring their work to hang alongside some of the pieces that I'm still highlighting from previous shows, I rearranged every area to give a new feeling to the place. On Saturday as I began hanging the show with the Artist Stephen Cimini who has been such a great help to me from the first day that I began planning the gallery, the areas where I had already hung art had such a feeling of some of my old apartments that I jokingly called one part of the space my Boho loft. It gives me so much happiness to move things around and design in a space this way, and I said to one of the Artists whose work is collage that I'm staring to think my gallery is one big collage piece. Part installation, part holder of blessings and treasured memories and part something completely new, each day at YES Gallery is bringing me into a new season with every addition and new arrangement creating new life.

YES Gallery  

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

    

An Abundant Life - Reflections

There is a journal that I've been looking for that is from the years when I was nine and ten or so. My Mother had given me a blank book to write it and I tried to write every day. There are so many memories in that book, and for a while I couldn't find it, but then today when I was listening to an audio only webinar, as I listened my eyes saw the book underneath another larger one on the bookshelf where I had thought I had it all along. It feels so good to know that this book is here and I can refer to it again. In an among the daily notes and thoughts of my life at that time there is some really beautiful writing, things that show the beginnings of the writing that I still do to this day. There are also some poems that I wrote a few years later, tucked into the book under the front cover, and it's so good to be able to look at all of these things and be reminded of who I was and where I have grown to in my life now.

YES Gallery is a place that is so full of creative energy that my own writing and art have been reemerging in the ways that they did at different times over the years. I've never stopped, but sometimes things are much fewer and further in between. A friend who called me the other day said it seemed as if I'm doing an event every other day and while it's not that often, the creative spark of my days is regularly inspiring me to create something new, to plan new events, to make new art, write new poetry, design new areas and experiment with new recipes and foods.

Visitors to YES Gallery often ask me if all of the artwork in the space is mine which is something that always surprises me. As I tell them that around 19 Artists are represented in the space, including some who are part of collaborations, I find myself explaining that my own art is a combination of many things, including curating and helping to create beautiful spaces for people to gather and experience beautiful art. There are things that I've created in YES Gallery, college pieces, refurbished and repurposed furnishing, poetry, and other visual art pieces, but the biggest thing that I've realized is that the entire space is one large collage piece and installation in collaboration with other Artists and creative people who share their work and inspiration in the space.

Now that I have my old journal again, I'm looking forward to adding some of the writing in it to a new piece to create something new. Reflecting on my own life and delving into the past of my childhood seems like a very important thing to do in the space of the gallery where everything from the past and the present seem to be meeting to make all things new.

YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan