TAWA at 45

The Exhibition

TAWA at 45

A survey of art from the Trenton Artists Workshop Association

The Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) is a nonprofit arts organization serving the Trenton, NJ area and beyond. From the early inspiration of its founders, Mary Howard and Latta Patterson, to the impassioned advocacy of Mel Leipzig, to the latest efforts of Liz and Dan Aubrey, TAWA has succeeded, grown, changed, and endured. TAWA has a 45-year history organizing exhibits in such venues as the Trenton City Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, Artworks Trenton, Prince Street Gallery in New York City, and more. TAWA was responsible for a year-long, statewide “Eyes on Trenton” project—exhibits, symposia, poetry, and musical and theatrical experiences. TAWA helped the Trenton City Museum off to an exciting start in its very early days, by organizing and curating a series of solo shows (“Sixteen Artists”) that featured established and emerging artists. TAWA’s reach extended even beyond the US, with the amazing “TAWA in the USSR” art exchange.

TAWA’s first major activity, “Eyes on Trenton”, proved to the greater community what a great ‘hive’ of creativity (not only in the visual arts, but in the literary, dramatic, and vocal arts) the city was—never heralded enough, but always humming. With Eyes on Trenton, we were off to an auspicious start; and while its subsequent history is equally impressive, TAWA is not about its records, but about the people who continue to make art and share it generously and widely.

Over the years, TAWA has morphed, from an organization that provided a convivial meeting place—literally and figuratively—for artists and art lovers of all ilk, to a network of artists and art appreciators who have gone forward and created new “hives” of creativity, new ideas, new art, and more support for art forums and art forms. Many TAWA members will attest to the support and community they have found within and from this organization. These are the artists then, in this exhibit, who have continued to draw, paint, and sculpt, like bees in a colony: constantly moving, making new connections, growing that hive of creativity for the next generation of artists—an absolute imperative for a community, or civilization for that matter, to remain alive in the truest sense of the word.

It is fitting, on nearing its 45th anniversary, that TAWA once again show the incredible talent of artists at Ellarslie. Thank you to the Trenton City Museum—TAWA’s earliest home — for hosting us once again.

The TAWA at 45 Exhibition Committee

Dan Aubrey | Liz Aubrey | Aubrey Kauffman | Dave Orban | Mary Yess