Let’s Fund The Rockaway Art Room

I’ve taken two art classes with the Rockaway Art Room, and I’d like to share my experience because I’ve be­come a big fan!

The first was a watercolor and weav­ing class with artist Bekka Palmer. Something kind of magical happens when you weave two different images together. An unexpected third subcon­scious creation starts to appear. Beeka is a fine artist with a focus on textile design and basket weaving. Her work is inspiring! Take a look: bekkapalm­er.com

The second was a found objects workshop, building a relief mandala with instructor Camila A. Morales (@camilamorales). She began with a wonderful presentation on art, ecol­ogy, and sustainability in our com­munity. Camila, a professor and artist herself, aims to bring art education to the peninsula with FIELD NOTES, a free public arts and science program coming to Far Rockaway this spring. For the art-making, she set the tables with buttons, moss, and all these little treasures. This one pushed me out of my comfort zone, and that’s a good thing.

Both classes were so engaging. And it was just people showing up, mak­ing something with their hands, talking to each other, having tea, and be­ing creative.

These workshops took place at the new and de­lightful Jupiter Club—a members-only surf storage and co-working space in Arverne (69-62 Alm­eda Ave, Arverne, NY 11692). Owners Gina Jurlando and Tim Reckel envi­sioned it as a community events hub too, and it’s already become home to some Rockaway Art Room’s classes.

(L-R) Jamie Soltis, Rockaway Art Room Founder; Teaching Artist, Bekka Palmer; Gina Jurlando, Owner, Jupiter Club.

Waves of watercolor.

The Rockaway Art Room was conceived by Jamie Soltis. Jamie and her husband, Ednmand Ducey, found their way to Rockaway by way of waves. They’re surfers. Jamie works in the nonprofit world; she is an actress performing off and on the peninsula, and she is a mother to an exuberant two-year-old. Jamie and her crew felt they wanted more creative calmness and wellness in their circle. She took the leap and began the hard work to build the polite program for the Rocka­way Art Room.

I say thank you.

We are lacking many things on the peninsula, and an organized, creative outlet for so many of us who are cre­ative people is one of them. The long-term goal is to open a brick-and-mortar art school. Teaching artists get paid, and students, art-curious folks, and all ages are welcome to attend art classes for free. This concept for the Rockaway Art Room is something Ja­mie feels strongly about. She shares on the Go­FundMe page two goals:

1. Free art classes for everyone in our neighbor­hood
2. Create jobs by mak­ing sure the artists who teach are paid fairly for their time and expertise.

Jamie, like many of us, feels the race of life—work, family, chores, obliga­tions. The Rockaway Art Room is a way to ease all that, a place where re­laxation and art meet, and where you can connect with like-minded people. It’s an outlet to discover something new, take a pause from the regular routine, use your brain in a different way, get off our screens, smile, and have some fun!

The aim for the next phase of Rocka­way Art Room is a five-week oil paint­ing series that would start sometime in the early summer. Also on deck, open drawing meetups around town, drawing our urban natural landscape, and the people that inhabit it.

Here’s the GoFundMe – Donations go toward paying teaching artists, buying sup­plies, outreach, and taxes. The ask is low; I feel the dollar amount should be at least tripled. Let’s do this, Rocka­way! Please consider supporting this fantastic program by making a contri­bution or sharing this article and do­nation link.

Follow the Rockaway Art Room on Instagram for updates on sum­mer programming: @rockawayart­room