Art At Your Feet

ARTIST: Rolanda Franklin

Website: rolondalarae.art , Instagram: @rolondalarae.art

ART LOCATION: 45 River Rd

ARTIST: Irina Radeva

ART LOCATION: 320 Montgomery St

Sonya Elefante is a therapist and artist who believes art has the power to heal.

Instagram: @son.yart

ART LOCATION: 331 Raritan Ave

ARTIST: Gianni Boy Vee

ART LOCATION: 35 South 5th Ave

ARTIST: Sonya Elefante

ART LOCATION: Anja / 225 Woodbridge Ave

ARTIST: Michael Rogers

ART LOCATION: 125 Johnson St

ARTIST: Sonya Elefante

LOCATION: 246 Raritan Ave

ARTIST: Gianni Boy Vee

ART LOCATION: 110 North 10th Ave

ARTIST: Alma Valles

ART LOCATION: Unknown / Somewhere over the rainbow

Sonya Elefante is a therapist and artist who believes art has the power to heal. This is her biological son, Charlie. He is a good boy.

Instagram: @son.yart
ART LOCATION: 325 Cedar Ave

ARTIST: Fu-Zu Jen
ART LOCATION: 304 Montgomery Street

ARTIST: Diego Gonzalez
ART LOCATION: 1215 Central Ave

ARTIST: Marcelina Garcia
ART LOCATION: 70 Lawrence Ave

Diane Reh is a collage artist and the founding member of "Picking Up the Pieces Collage", a group dedicated to the art of collage. She is a Highland Park resident and has been working in collage for about fifteen years. She enjoys the process of combining images, colors, and textures to create something new, often something unexpected.

ART LOCATION: 235 Lincoln Ave.

ARTIST: Sonya Elefante

Instagram: @son.yart

ART LOCATION: 224 Magnolia St

Arielle del Rosario created this acrylic paint pour piece inspired by the wonder of what lies beyond our galaxy. She specializes in acrylic animal portraits and wildlife photography. Arielle loves living in Highland Park and is a proud parent to several rescue dogs, fish, and a human baby. She regularly donates her art pieces to charity.

Instagram: @art.by.ayee

ART LOCATION: Unknown / All around us

Michael Lee‘s favorite subject in home school is art. He loves art because he really enjoys creating. He wants become a police officer when he grows up.

ART LOCATION: 239 Harrison Ave.

ARTIST: Libby Peckman
ART LOCATION: 109 Donaldson St

ARTIST: Sarai L. Araiza
ART LOCATION: Unknown / She cannot be defined

Mayu Burr was born and raised in Japan and has lived in NJ for the last 20 years and her favorite medium is water-mixable oil. Her favorite subjects are animals (especially her pets), and the lovely things that she finds around her, such as vegetables from her garden.

This is a portrait of some of Mayu’s chickens. From left to right, their names and breeds are: Georgia Peach (Australorp), Madeleine (Jersey Gold), Cookie (Ameraucana), Beryl (Barred Rock), and Andromeda (Jersey Black). If you look carefully at this painting, you will see that Georgia Peach is standing the farthest back from the other chickens, while Andromeda is closest to the front. This establishes a vanishing point and perspective.

ART LOCATION: Bridge Turkish & Mediterranean Grill / 315 Raritan Ave

ARTIST: John Marron

ART LOCATION: Unknown / Where ever the wind has taken it.

ARTIST: Amee Pollack

ART LOCATON: 262 S. 10th

Adeline Lee Addy is homeschooled and loves dancing. She loves art because you can create beautiful things. She wants to be a singer when she grows up.

ART LOCATION: 425 Manolia

ARTIST: Sonya Elefante

Instagram: @son.yart

ART LOCATION: 220 Volkert St

Julia Virginia Win is a watercolor and collage artist, originally from Edison. Julia is an avid upcycler and is passionate about the creative reuse of materials! She believes in public art for all.

For this project, she created a peaceful green scene, inspiring viewers to check out the green spaces of Highland Park but also to reflect on their own ways to go green. This year, she was the winner of the Middlesex County Mural Design contest. Her completed mural is in Raritan Bay Waterfront Park along with three other public & recycled art displays on the Middlesex Greenway, in Metuchen and in Princeton. Julia also teaches local art cycle classes for children.

Check out @JVWcreates for more.
Website: https://jvwcreates.my.canva.site/

ART LOCATION: Irving School

FIRST GENERATION

Rukiya Raghunath, pseudonymously known as 'Sunday Rue', is many things. A biochemist, a zinester, a writer, a romantic, an idealist, and a wonderful melting pot of the history and cultures she has inherited... Rukiya is inspired by all forms of art and the community that a love of art can provide. For the past few years Highland Park has been that community, along with the embrace of its talented artists, and passionate community members. "I was in awe of Highland Park. Everywhere you walk, you see the heart of this town's history and future".

As a first-generation Guyanese-American, Rukiya's digital drawing made for the sidewalk decal project was inspired by her own ancestry. It is an ode to the wonderful complexity of diversity, one's ancestry, and knowing that we are what existed beyond the horizon on that voyage so many of our ancestors took. To see more of her portfolio CLICK HERE.

ART LOCATION: Soma Vayu Garden; 73 Woodbridge Ave.

Scott Brustein practiced orthodontics on Staten Island for over 30 years and having recently retired looks forward to pursuing a lifelong fascination in the arts. Past interests have included drawing, photography both underwater and on land, wheel thrown pottery and community theater. He has lived in Highland Park for 15 years and looks forward to learning from our creative art community.

ART LOCATION: Bartle School / 5 th Ave

Gianni Boy Vee is a freelance illustrator and was commissioned to do pieces for various clients. He specializes in using watercolors, acrylics, and other types of art media, such as colored pencils.

Gianni Boy Vee also creates comic books and is in the process of working on some new series. He is the owner and editor-in-chief of his brand, Highland Pop Media. To see his work, visit his website www.highlandpopmedia.com

ART LOCATION: High School / Montgomery Street

Nikki Gonzalez has a rule when she teaches her Psychology students at Middlesex College: She won’t ask them to do anything that she’s not willing to participate in right along with them. The same is true for her projects she organizes on behalf of the Highland Park Arts Commission – including asking the community for street decal art. She’s no artist. But she loves Highland Park and wants to see it colorful!

ART LOCATION: Karsey Street Park

Peichi Waite is a fine art photographer who believes in the healing power of art and nature.

Her Instagram, @photowalkhp, documents her nature walks around Highland Park and beyond. 

ART LOCATION: The HP Community Center

Jackson K. is a student here in Highland Park. He loves to draw, build with Legos and make 3D crafts out of paper, cardboard, repurposed household items, etc. His creations are often inspired by his adventures and time spent in nature with his family. He is also half of “The Bilderz” – a father and son team that create original designs and “Bildz”!

Check out his YouTube Link HERE.

ART LOCATION: Coming Soon

Sonya Elefante is a therapist and artist who believes art has the power to heal.

From the artist: “This photo was taken in the Native Plant Sanctuary on River Road in the Fall of 2021. I love to incorporate pattern and texture into my photography, and love the vibrant opposing colors in this photo. I try to capture the beauty that exists in a small piece of the world through my photos. To me this photograph is not of a tree branch and leaves but instead an abstract combination of shapes and colors and lines that I hope is engaging for viewers to look at.

Instagram: @son.yart

ART LOCATION: Dunkin Donuts / 55 Raritan Ave.

By Ruth Abramowitz; bio coming soon!

ART LOCATION: McKenna’s Gym; 407-409 Raritan Ave.