We wanted to introduce them to you and give you a glimpse of their connections to the arts

Amy is a full-time glass artist who works from her studio, Paradise Custom Stained Glass, in Metuchen. She creates commission pieces for residential & business customers, displays her artwork in galleries across the state, and teaches classes in her studio. Amy is also a member of the Cultural Arts Commission and is the current director of the Rotunda Gallery in Borough Hall.
For more information, please see her website: Paradisecsg.com

ETHAN CANTOR is working on the Junebug mobile app as part of the Junebug team. He has experience in Java, HTML, CSS, and Android and he was introduced into Junebug by his mother, who has been a vendor at the Junebug Art Fest for many years. Ethan is taking the AP Computer Science course at the High School and is an avid programming. He also enjoys spending his free time playing video games and hanging out with friends.

Nicole Chinchar is the Executive Director of the Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce where she plays an active role in helping to shape the wonderful events that make Metuchen a popular destination. For Nicole, Junebug is an event that calls to mind late spring evenings on Main Street with her young children in tow, perusing the work of amazing exhibitors including her talented niece and nephew. After spending her formative years in the Borough, Nicole moved back to Metuchen in 2000. When she is not working at the Chamber she spends time writing and her alter Ego, Nikki Bannister, has also been seen at Junebug with her book, Some Kind of Jersey Girl.

Jennifer graduated from Metuchen High School in 1994. Her grandparents settled here and now her son is the fourth generation of her family to live and/or go to school in Metuchen. Jennifer has a BFA (Visual Communications with a concentration in Graphic Design) and a MA (Behavioral Sciences with a concentration in Human Behavior and Organizational Psychology) from Kean University. She has worked over the last 13 years in Higher Education at Kean University. Her expertise is in the area of Enrollment Services but art has and always been a love of hers. She keeps in tune with her creative "bug" through fiber art. She is a self taught knitter for over 20 years. Jennifer is also the Metuchen Yarn Bomber, which you can see a project in the works on Main St. Anyone interested can contact her through the Metuchen Yarn Bombing Facebook page or at metuchenyarnbombing@gmail.com. Jennifer is also a member of the Metuchen Borough Improvement League.

I am a local artist who started to paint seriously six years ago. It's a bit of a long story, but I would say some creative urges happened upon me by accident and now visual arts is a passion. I work in water color, acrylic, oil, pastels and pencil.

I often use my own photographs as a departure point and my influences include landscapes, graffiti, clouds, the sky and a lot of things in between. I have traveled extensively during my business lifetime (now retired) and these experiences (especially Japan) have had a profound effect on my work.

My style is diverse and difficult for me to categorize, so I invite you to visit my website at rdiken.com, to see for yourself.

As a resident of Metuchen, with time to "give back", I want to engage more actively in the the Boro's art community and the Junebug Art Festival seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get involved. For the 2014 event, I will co-chair with Linda Vonderschmidt-LaStella, as a Coordinator of the Store Owners Window Gallery. I also intend to use the 2014 Junebug Art Festival to launch my first true exhibit.

A Metuchen resident for nearly twenty years, Robert began photographing with purpose in 1999. His portfolio consists of landscape images made of the ever changing scenery of Cheesequake Park, the beaches of Sandy Hook and Cape May (his favorite places to visit and photograph), as well as a variety of still life projects, and, on occasion, some black & white studio work with professional models.

TEGAN JAMES is a mixed media artist who enjoys painting mainly with acrylics on tile and canvas. He graduated from the Graphic Design program at Anthem Institute (North Brunswick, NJ) in 2009.

Tegan first volunteered for Junebug as a street team member in 2013. He then joined the publicity committee in 2014 and is also helping to coordinate the Chalk Art exhibit this year.

Last year was Tegan’s first time exhibiting his work in Junebug. He was awarded the Window Gallery Favorite Artist award, and he looks forward to participating again this year.

Tegan has lived in Metuchen since 1995, and has four children. He works as an artist instructor at Pinot’s Palette in Manalapan and is the founder and publisher of GALA Magazine, which highlights artists of all genres within the LGBTQ community.

Check out Tegan’s art and publication online at www.teganjamesart.com and www.galamagonlinelgbt.com.

NISARG JOSHI is an app developer working on the Junebug mobile app as part of the Junebug team. Currently a sophomore at Metuchen High School, he loves programming, and also runs cross-country and track. Nisarg had been familiar with Junebug, and is elated to work on an app with the Junebug committee to help people interested in the festival. He learned about the opportunity from his school counselor. He also takes an AP Computer Science class in his school, and published an Android app that makes note-taking, copying, and pasting easier for people on the Google Play Store last summer, called “Clippings.” Nisarg’s goal is to be an entrepreneur and co-founder of a software development company when he grows up.

Grace is Aide to the Chairman of The Citizens Campaign, a statewide non-profit organization that promotes participation in all levels of government. Previously she was Director of Artistic Administration at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ, a position she held for 19 years. Her responsibilities at McCarter included contracting, artist cultivation, community relations, board development, meeting and production coordination, staff development and the direction of the theater-wide internship program. Grace was assistant to the Broadway producer Richard Frankel at Richard Frankel Productions in New York City. She also served as Producing Associate for the Twilight Performing Arts Festival on the campus of the Bucks County Community College in Bucks County, PA. In the late 1960’s, she was a founding member of the Theatre Six Theatre Company in Metuchen, NJ. Grace currently serves on the Board of Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick and is Chair of the Metuchen Arts Council. She has B.A. degree in Theater Administration from Rutgers University and lives in Metuchen, NJ.

Inspiration for the Junebug surfaced in Linda’s studio in the Fall of 2007. She carried the germ of the idea to the Metuchen Chamber Administrator, who then pointed her to the Metuchen Cultural Arts Commission. There was immediate responsiveness to the idea in both the business and arts communities, and very quickly an exciting collaboration was born.

As the artist-owner of Earthsongs: Works in Clay, Linda is deeply interested in helping to make Metuchen an arts-destination. With an MFA in painting and ceramics, Linda has been involved in the arts her whole professional life. Beginning this year 2014, her studio is heading up Metuchen Arts Council’s Mud Making Magic four-year Public Mural Project. (https://www.facebook.com/mudmakingmagic.org)

Linda’s website gives a broad overview of the kind of work she has produced in the past and continues to develop; visit it at:
www.CLAYSONGS.com

For very regular updates, images and comments about what’s doing at the studio, visit the studio’s Facebook Page.

Margo wheeler
Junebug PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Margo received her BA from Colgate University in philosophy and her Masters in Communications Design from Pratt Institute. While having begun her career in advertising, she has focused on graphic design for the past 15 years.

She established Bounce Design in 2003 and has created many of the designs you see around town. Some of her local projects include designs for the following: Fuce5K, Bike-Walk Metuchen, Metuchen Education Foundation, and the Metuchen Democratic Party. She is also the chairperson of the Metuchen Municipal Pool Commission. Margo and her family have been Metuchen residents since 2000.

Margo is currently the creative director at Closet Complete, a division of Prime Line Packaging.

Metuchen has always been home to Dottie and her family. Never one to watch from the sidelines, she has always been active in town and a member of the Cultural Arts Commission for many years. Watching the growth of the Junebug Artfest over the past 6 years is truly wonderful and gratifying - BUT it doesn’t happen without help from everyone in Metuchen – businesses and residents alike.

Dottie has an unwavering love of the arts, but her talents lie in the business arena, those talents have been put to the test these past few years to raise the funds needed to allow Junebug to continue to be the exciting presence in our downtown every Friday in June.

Since opening Winhold Realty in 1982, to now managing Prudential NJ Properties, it has been all about people and relationships for almost 30 years. Having made so many friends in Metuchen made her the obvious choice to call upon everyone who enjoys this wonderful event and ask for their help to make it happen – yet again.

Word about the ArtFest would not be spread without the ongoing efforts of Lynda Woodworth. A professional communications consultant, Lynda has leveraged her writing skills and publicity know-how to raise awareness and visibility of the ArtFest since 2009.

Additionally, Lynda is an accomplished painter, specializing in oil painting and watercolor. She is a regular student at the Academy of Art in Highland Park and has worked with academy director Ana Eloisa Soto-Canino for the past several years. She is joined by her son Jackson Costello at weekly studio classes and in showcasing their work at the annual ArtFest. Click here to access her family’s on-line art studio: http://www.costwoodstudio.com/.