Arts Council of Princeton

Film Screening: America Unfiltered: Portraits and Voices of a Nation
2026-02-14 13:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Solley Theater – Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Join us for a special screening of “America Unfiltered: Portraits and Voices of a Nation”, followed by a Q&A with directors Horacio Marquinez and Kirill Myltsev.
About the film:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN?
Wanting to understand a fractured country with a rancorous election underway during a wave of gun violence, two immigrant filmmakers, one from Panama and the other from Russia, journey across the United States revealing an unfiltered, unflinching portrait of America. The filmmakers traveled for nine months in a Mini-Cooper listening to people and recording their stories about what it’s like to live in America today. America Unfiltered draws from a series of raw and emotional encounters on topics ranging from politics and gun control to race and immigration. The film presents an unvarnished vision of our shared humanity and engenders hope for our country’s next chapter.
About the filmmakers:

Horacio Marquínez, Co-Creator, Writer-Director
Horacio has worked on independent films, commercials, and major motion pictures that include renowned directors, producers, and actors, including Robin Williams, Adrian Brody, Dolly Parton, Vera Farmiga, Mila Jovovich, David Corenswet. Born and raised in Panama, Horacio made his way to NYC graduating from Columbia University Film School.
Kirill Myltsev, Co-Creator, Writer-Director
Kirill is a highly regarded network/studio editor, originally from Moscow. He has a master’s degree in film directing and holds an MBA from University of Moscow. He has edited over a dozen feature films in his native country of Russia and worked on dozens of international and American commercials and films. He lives in New York City.
Dr. Marc Brackett, Producer
Marc is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by 5,000 schools across the globe. He is also the author of the best-selling book, Permission To Feel.
Attendee’s are invited to an Opening Reception featuring additional work by Horacio and Kirill in our Taplin Gallery from 3-5pm following this event. Learn more.
Learn more about the film and view the trailer.

Free Registration

PRINCETON?UNEXPECTED
2026-02-14 - 2026-03-14 | Lower Level Gallery
PRINCETON?UNEXPECTEDBy Alan ChimacoffOn view: Feb 14 – Mar 14Opening: Sat, Feb 14 | 3-5pm
Exhibition statement:details unnoticedin town; on campusa classical sculpture; a modern sculpturebuilding fragmentsan eroded wooden boardthe residue of notices on a street kioskreflectionsan unknownSeek, and ye shall find
Learn more about the artist.

Decisive Moment
2026-02-14 - 2026-03-14 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Decisive Moment
Photography by artist Evan Wolarsky
On view: Feb 14 – Mar 14
Opening: Sat, Feb 14 | 3-5pm
Exhibition Statement:
Evan Wolarsky was a devoted street photographer, roaming the streets of New York, the Princeton campus, and destinations around the world in pursuit of what Henri Cartier-Bresson famously called the “decisive moment”, that fleeting instant when form, emotion, and meaning align. Working primarily in black and white, Wolarsky captured scenes of everyday life with sensitivity, patience, and a keen eye for human presence.
Every photograph in this exhibition was printed by Wolarsky himself. From 1976 to 1993, he maintained an extensive darkroom in his Pennington home, mastering traditional photographic printing techniques. Later, he transitioned seamlessly into digital printing, developing deep expertise in Photoshop and a nuanced understanding of papers, inks, and printers. His commitment to craft remained constant across technologies, with the final print always central to his practice.
Wolarsky’s passion for photography began at the age of nine, when his father gifted him a Leica camera, a moment that sparked a lifelong artistic pursuit far beyond hobby. Alongside his creative work, Wolarsky led a distinguished career in medicine, earning degrees from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Wharton, completing surgical training at Columbia-Presbyterian, serving in the U.S. Navy, and later becoming the first medical director of Hunterdon Medical Center before retiring in 1999.
In addition to being a dedicated physician, Wolarsky was a gifted pianist, marathon runner, and active member of the artistic community. His photographs have been exhibited at Soho Photo Gallery in New York City, Ellarslie at the Trenton City Museum, and in national online exhibitions, and are held in private collections throughout the Princeton area.
Photographs in this exhibition are available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting the Arts Council of Princeton.

America Unfiltered: Portraits and Voices of a Nation
2026-02-14 - 2026-03-14 | Taplin Gallery – Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
America Unfiltered: Portraits and Voices of a NationDirectors: Horacio Marquinez and Kirill MyltsevOn view: Feb 14 – Mar 14Opening: Sat, Feb 14 | 3-5pmFilm Screening + Q&A: Sat, Feb 14 | 1pm

Exhibition statement:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN?Wanting to understand a fractured country with a rancorous election underway during a wave of gun violence, two immigrant filmmakers, one from Panama and the other from Russia, journey across the United States revealing an unfiltered, unflinching portrait of America. The filmmakers traveled for nine months in a Mini-Cooper listening to people and recording their stories about what it’s like to live in America today. America Unfiltered draws from a series of raw and emotional encounters on topics ranging from politics and gun control to race and immigration. The film presents an unvarnished vision of our shared humanity and engenders hope for our country’s next chapter.
About the filmmakers:
Horacio Marquínez, Co-Creator, Writer-DirectorHoracio has worked on independent films, commercials, and major motion pictures that include renowned directors, producers, and actors, including Robin Williams, Adrian Brody, Dolly Parton, Vera Farmiga, Mila Jovovich, David Corenswet. Born and raised in Panama, Horacio made his way to NYC graduating from Columbia University Film School.
Kirill Myltsev, Co-Creator, Writer-DirectorKirill is a highly regarded network/studio editor, originally from Moscow. He has a master’s degree in film directing and holds an MBA from University of Moscow. He has edited over a dozen feature films in his native country of Russia and worked on dozens of international and American commercials and films. He lives in New York City.
Dr. Marc Brackett, ProducerMarc is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by 5,000 schools across the globe. He is also the author of the best-selling book, Permission To Feel.

Free Virtual Art Making with Princeton University: Colored Pencils
2026-02-12 20:00 - 21:00 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
The Arts Council of Princeton partners with the Princeton University Art Museum to provide free virtual art-making classes. Weekly classes are taught by ACP artist-instructor Barbara DiLorenzo over Zoom. Techniques emphasize drawing with pen, pastel paint or pencil on paper. Each week’s lesson features works from the Museum’s collections.
February registration below. Upcoming sessions in June to be announced. Stay tuned for dates.
To watch recordings of previous lessons, click here.

Drawing from the Collections | Choosing Your Pencil Palette: This week, learn how to select the best hues for your drawing project, inspired by Late Classic Period, Veracruz, Mexico, Head of Old Fire God, 600–900 CE.
Register for this free Zoom event here.
Find the suggested materials for this art-making class here.

ACP BYOB: Carve Your Heart Out | Linocut Printmaking
2026-02-12 18:00 - 20:30 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Our beginner-friendly evening of linocut printmaking with an anti-Valentine’s day spin.

It’s OK if the cutesy romance of Valentine’s Day isn’t your thing. Whether you’re single, in a relationship, or still plotting your ex’s downfall, you’re invited to carve your heart out during a BYOB night out.
Bring along a 4×6″ design and we’ll teach you how to carve, ink, and print your linoleum block. You’ll leave with multiple editions to send as cards or frame as prints.
Come with some friends or join on your own – you’ll meet fellow art-lovers during this creative night on the town. Bring your fave beer, wine, bubbly, snacks, or soft drink.

SAVE YOUR SPOT

Jersey Art Meetup (JAM)
2026-02-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-02-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Princeton Comic Makers presents: JERSEY ART MEETUPS (JAM), a weekly social event connecting creatives within the greater Central Jersey area through a shared passion for sequential art and new media. Attendees may use this open workshop space to draw, write, and develop their own artwork, with an opportunity to receive peer review and feedback from other members if desired. Illustrators, animators, writers, and generalists are all welcome to join and discuss their art and career goals, share learning resources, promote current projects, or find friends and collaborators. Together, we aspire to cultivate a local community that keeps artists motivated towards achieving their dreams!

Open to ages 16+ of any skill level interested in any form of narrative art and design (i.e. Animation, Concept Art, Comics, Game Design, Picture Books, etc.)
Group meets weekly on Wednesdays from 7pm to 9pm. Casual attendance is accepted!
Bringing own materials is highly encouraged. Some basic materials are provided – paper, pencils, etc. – but please bring any tools necessary to help you create (i.e. drawing tablets, sketchbooks, etc.)

Who we are: Sponsored by artist and educator Ronah Harris, Princeton Comic Makers is an artist collective founded in 2023 by local illustrators Christina Castro, Suyang Gong, and Masha Zhdanova after noticing a lack of in-person community spaces for NJ-based artists specializing in narrative arts and communications design. Although we create independently, we often exhibit together at events such as MoCCA Fest, Anime NYC, and Camden Comic Con. Our weekly study group motivated us to strive towards completing projects and working towards professional goals, so we hope more people can benefit from this club!
Christina Castro is a freelance illustrator and storyboard artist who graduated from Pratt Institute (2018) with a BFA in Digital Arts (2D Animation) and a minor in Creative Writing. Past clients include Smashbits Animation, gal-dem zine, and Bad Robot. Christina also currently organizes and leads the production management of several indie charity zines, collaborating with writers, illustrators, and musicians all around the world. Suyang Gong is a fine artist and illustrator who graduated from Rutgers (2021) with a BFA in Fine Arts. She has formerly worked as a teaching assistant at the Sharron Art Center for 3 years, tutoring students in refining technical drawing skills. Suyang also specializes in traditional media, often using materials like graphite, ink, and oil paint to create dynamic works. Masha Zhdanova is a freelance writer, editor, and illustrator who graduated from SCAD (2019) with a BFA in Sequential Art and recently completed her MFA in Cartooning at the Center for Cartoon Studies (2022). She was a teaching assistant for two Winter workshops at CCS and has taught comics classes for kids at the Princeton Public Library. Masha’s clients include Publisher’s Weekly, Women Write About Comics, and Polygon, and she also currently edits content for The Anime Herald.

ACP BYOB: Wheel Ceramics
2026-02-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Beginner-friendly intro to wheel ceramics!
Shake off the stress of your work week and give pottery a whirl! You bring your favorite brew, wine, or bubbly, and we take care of the rest.
Sela Stazzone, ACP artist-instructor and owner of Jean Ceramics, will introduce you to the basics of throwing a bowl on the potter’s wheel. You’ll throw, choose your glaze, and pick up your two completed pieces in a week or two.
Instruction, materials, and tools are provided. Bring some friends or come on your own to meet fellow art-lovers during this creative night on the town.
Don’t feel like drinking wine? That’s ok! Bring whatever bevvies that you’d like.

SAVE YOUR SPOT

Free Virtual Art Making with Princeton University: Colored Pencils
2026-02-05 20:00 - 21:00 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
The Arts Council of Princeton partners with the Princeton University Art Museum to provide free virtual art-making classes. Weekly classes are taught by ACP artist-instructor Barbara DiLorenzo over Zoom. Techniques emphasize drawing with pen, pastel paint or pencil on paper. Each week’s lesson features works from the Museum’s collections.
February registration below. Upcoming sessions in June to be announced. Stay tuned for dates.
To watch recordings of previous lessons, click here.

Depicting Metal with Colored Pencils: This week, learn how colored pencils can be used to depict variations in metal, inspired by Eastern Zhou dynasty, mid-Warring States period (ca. 470–221 BCE) to early Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE), China, Sword-bearer lamp, 4th–2nd century BCE.
Register for this free Zoom event here.
Find the suggested materials for this art-making class here.

Hands Talk
2026-01-10 - 2026-02-07 | Lower Level Gallery
Hands Talk
By Debbie Gibbs
On view: Jan 10 – Feb 7
Opening: Sat, Jan 10 | 3-5pm

Exhibition statement:
Hands are powerful communicators. This mixed media exhibition—created with paper and acrylic on stretched canvas—explores the many ways hands express, connect, and reveal. From the most direct form of communication, sign language, to symbolic gestures, hands speak volumes. Hands in handcuffs underscore both the literal and symbolic restriction of freedom. The racially diverse hands depicted throughout the work highlight the beauty diversity brings to our world, as well as the complexity it adds to communication and connection. Created during a time when the rights and freedoms of many are being limited, this exhibition strives to raise awareness and inspire positive, productive, multicultural engagement. It also serves as a reminder of the grace, strength, and power found in our own hands.
About the artist:
Debbie Gibbs is a mixed media artist whose work explores themes of equity, justice, and inclusion through abstract paintings, mosaics, and sculptural assemblages. Drawing on her background in theater arts and education, she combines materials such as acrylic, paper, wood, plaster, and fabric to create layered, symbolic works. Her art has been exhibited in Washington, D.C., Colorado, Texas, and New Jersey, including at the Heidi Gallery, Trenton Artworks, West Windsor Arts Council and now at the Princeton Arts Council, January, 2026. A larger version of the Hands Talk Series will be exhibited at Trenton Artworks, October 2026. Her work can be viewed at www.debbiegibbs.net and on instagram www.instagram.com/gibbsdpg.

Art for Change
2026-01-10 - 2026-02-07 | Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Copyright Terrance Cummings. All Rights Reserved. Artwork Title: Stronger Together.

Art for ChangeBy artist Terrance CummingsOn view: Jan 10 – Feb 7Opening: Sat, Jan 10 | 3-5pm
Exhibition Statement:I have faith in the ability of art to initiate contemplation, foster discussions, and drive change. Through my art, I delve into profound themes inspired by human emotions, societal intricacies, ingrained beliefs, and economic marginalization. While my work often addresses topics such as race and class, the underlying essence always revolves around our shared humanity. Art has the power to shape society and challenge the status quo. By creating work that challenges perceptions and encourages introspection, I hope to contribute to a larger cultural conversation about our relationship with each other. I believe that art has the power to bring people together and foster a sense of community, and I strive to create work that reflects this belief.
The following books will be available for purchase at the Arts Council throughout the duration of the exhibition:

We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the WorldBy Stuart Stotts, Artwork by Terrance Cummings. 2010.History of the song from the Civil Rights Movement.
In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American PoetryBy Ethelbert Miller, Artwork by Terrance Cummings. 1996A collection of African-American poems, with works by Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Paul Laurence Dunbar
Too Hot to Cool DownBy Terrance Cummings, 1996From the great blues singers and jazz artists of all times this highly charged, sometimes naughty, anthology of lyrics and illustrations by Terrance Cummings, Here, Cummings has gathered together 32 wonderful lyrics from such greats as B.B. King, Ma Rainey, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and many others.

Artist Bio:Terrance Cummings is a visual artist born in Birmingham, Alabama, whose early life in a working-class household continues to shape his artistic vision. Memories of his aunt gathering coal from railroad tracks to heat their home reflect the resilience and ingenuity that inform his work. After relocating to New York City, Cummings graduated from the High School of Music and Art and earned his BFA from Parsons School of Design. His artwork has since been featured in solo exhibitions, collected by private collectors, and included in projects within the publishing industry. Cummings’s practice centers on uplifting portrayals of marginalized communities, challenging stereotypes through layered color, pattern, and texture. His work aims to spark dialogue, deepen understanding, and create space for empowerment and reflection. To learn more about the artist, visit his website or instagram.

Divergent Forms
2026-01-10 - 2026-02-07 | Taplin Gallery – Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Divergent FormsBy Artists: Jennifer Martin, George Taylor & Ben PrangerOn view: Jan 10 – Feb 7Opening: Sat, Jan 10 | 3-5pm

Exhibition statement:

Divergent Forms brings together the work of Jennifer Martin, George Taylor, and Ben Pranger—three artists who approach material, structure, and identity from distinctly different directions. Their practices diverge, yet each reveals a careful attention to how form can hold memory, presence, and the traces of thought. Jennifer Martin’s ceramic vessels are rooted in the physicality of the body and the histories it carries. She works within the traditions of pottery while allowing herself to move beyond their constraints, shaping forms that echo human asymmetry and the subtle marks of lived experience. Lines and impressions accumulate on the surface like records of touch, suggesting layers of memory, identity, and personal history. Through groupings, pairings, and human-scaled arrangements, Martin shifts the vessel away from function and into a space of reflection. Her use of traditional glazes and exposed clay emphasizes the connection between surface and skin, reinforcing the idea that the stories we carry are inseparable from the bodies we inhabit. George Taylor works with slab-built ceramic bottles and panels that serve as supports for images of the figure. His practice has evolved from direct self-portraiture toward more universal representations, often showing the body from the back or side. These figures are rendered through line and color, interacting with the flat geometry of his rectangular bottle forms. Taylor’s work reflects both a personal search for belonging and a response to feeling marginalized within the larger art world. Each piece becomes an assertion of visibility and presence, transforming clay into a site of representation and resilience. Ben Pranger constructs wall-based works from carefully assembled wooden elements. His forms grow gradually, piece by piece, according to simple structural rules that allow for complex results. Some works stretch outward as airy, linear pathways; others condense into stepped configurations that suggest small architectural systems. These constructions map a kind of evolving mental or spatial process—recursive, layered, and continually shifting. With the addition of color and pattern in recent years, Pranger’s works operate at the intersection of sculpture and painting, using repetition and rhythm to guide the viewer’s movement across the surface.
Together, the works in Divergent Forms demonstrate how three distinct approaches—vessel, figure, and constructed structure—can expand the possibilities of form. The exhibition highlights the ways material can record experience, assert identity, or generate new spatial ideas, offering viewers multiple points of entry into the artists’ investigations of shape, meaning, and presence.
Artist statement:

Jennifer MartinOur bodies remember for us. Scars, small flaws, and softened edges become quiet archivists, holding the moments that have shaped who we are. My work begins in that place—where memory meets the physical world—and invites both the tenderness and the ache of lived experience to surface.I move within ceramic tradition but do not allow its lineage to bind me. Clay, in its sensual responsiveness, becomes a partner in dialogue. Using the tools of a traditional potter, I lean away from symmetry and toward forms that echo the body’s own asymmetry—its gestures, its vulnerabilities, its truths. Each mark left on the surface records the rhythm of my hand, yet these traces also stand in for the histories we each carry, ring by ring, layer by layer, like a tree quietly growing its story. Through repeated lines and patterns, I build a language that speaks of memory, gender, identity, and the winding paths of personal journey.Scale and arrangement deepen this exploration. I seek to lift the vessel beyond function, offering it instead as a site for contemplation—of relationships, of lineage, of the narratives that shape us. Whether in paired forms that echo one another, grids of cups that reveal both unity and distinction, or large works shaped from the measurements of the human body, each composition becomes a constellation of possibilities. Viewers are invited to find themselves within these forms, to trace their own stories through the spaces between them.As a final gesture of devotion to the human form, I turn to traditional glazes or exposed clay, allowing them to stand in as the skin of the piece—an echo of flesh, a quiet reminder that our bodies and our histories are inseparable.WebsiteInstagram
George TaylorI have focused on my own image intently for some time now, most recently in the form of portraits, either on slabs of clay or slab built bottles. More recently I have pulled away from the image of my face and am instead incorporating the entire figure. These images feel more universal to me, especially ones viewed from the back and side.As my practice has evolved, so too has my awareness of politics and representation. My portraits reflect both personal presence and a sense of exclusion—images that feel unwelcome within an art world where I often find myself marginalized. Making this work is both an act of acceptance and a battle: to claim space, to challenge erasure, and to transform clay into a record of persistence.Website
Ben PrangerMy wall based constructions slowly grow into emergent forms. Small pieces of wood are stacked and glued, drifting off course to traverse the space in front of the wall. The work follows simple rules that unfold organically to create entangled, rhizomatic structures. Many of the constructions suggest futuristic cities rising out of the rubble of their own destruction. Fragments from previous work coalesce into stairways, passages, apertures, enclosures and pyramids, leading the viewer through labyrinthine architectures. These indwellings map a recursive mental space that morphs into evolving worlds.Website
