Newly-Formed Arts Council Eyes Community-Wide Art Challenge

A community arts movement is afoot in Fair Lawn.

The borough’s public buildings and empty storefronts could be transformed into pop-up art galleries by fall if borough supervolunteer Jane Spindel, founder of the just-formed Fair Lawn Arts Council, has her wish.

The organization, made up of local artists and art enthusiasts, has met only once since receiving the borough council’s official blessing to move forward last month, but it has big plans.

“The idea is to bring all Fair Lawn residents together to work on different kinds of art projects that are going to be free or minimal cost to the resident,” Spindel said. “You don’t have to have any talent, you don’t have to be artistic, just the willingness to participate in whatever we do.”

The group’s first community art challenge is being planned for September. 

“We’re deciding on probably a week in September where residents go out and take pictures with their cameras and submit it and then we’re going to hang them all over town,” Spindel said. “We’re hoping for thousands of responses. No age limit, no talent limit, it could be lay person to professional.”

There’s no limit on the number of pictures residents may submit or what they choose to photograph, as long as the images relate to life in Fair Lawn, Spindel said. Creativity is encouraged.

Once the Arts Council has collected all of its resident photo responses, Spindel said it plans to post them across town, both at public places like the library and community center, as well as in the empty storefronts of transitioning businesses, with the permission of building landlords.

“There’s a lot we have to consider yet, but we’re excited about this and there’s been a lot of positive feedback,” she said. “I don’t know where it’s going to take us at this point, but I think how the first event comes about will show us what the interest is. So far, whoever I’ve told this to has been very excited.”

Spindel said she was inspired to start an arts council after seeing a museum exhibit of resident-submitted community self-portraits in Greenwich, Conn.

“Residents of Greenwich were allowed to submit up to 10 pictures each...and they hung them all over the museum,” she said. “It was just a wonderful cross section of people involved – all ages, all media, there was paintings, there was collage, there was tile, mosaics — and I thought ‘Why not? Why not Fair Lawn?’ We’re one of the biggest communities in Bergen County and we don’t have a very active arts council. 

“So we’re hoping to improve Fair Lawn’s exposure to the arts in different media, different ways...I'm looking forward to seeing what the results are."

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