PERTH AMBOY – On Thursday September 29, 2016, at 6 p.m., Perth Amboy Artworks is hosting a mural ribbon cutting and reception to celebrate the 650 ft. mural created by Perth Amboy artist Kerry Dyke along the Perth Amboy waterfront walkway.
The mural, titled Nautical Abstractions: Perth Amboy by the Sea, is a 650 foot 4-piece original work of art created specifically to beautify the wall located on the walkway behind the Raritan Yacht Club. Joining Perth Amboy Artworks in celebrating the mural will be Mayor Wilda Diaz, the Perth Amboy City Council, The Perth Amboy Arts Council, the Perth Amboy Recreation Department and the Raritan Yacht Club. The ribbon cutting will take place at the mural and a free reception at the Barge Restaurant will follow for the Perth Amboy Arts Community.
Please RSVP if you are coming. For more information, please call Caroline at 732-877-3800 or email Caroline@
Artist Kerry Dyke is a lifelong resident of Perth Amboy and a sophomore at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. Kerry developed the mural proposal while interning this summer at Perth Amboy Artworks, a new nonprofit in Perth Amboy that uses Arts & Culture to help revitalize the community. The idea was to help complete the restoration of the popular waterfront walkway that had been destroyed by Super Storm Sandy by adding a large piece of vibrant nautically inspired public art to beautify the blank wall. The mural is brightly colored turquoises, blues and sea greens. The artist said the abstract work is open to interpretation by viewers, but had intended that the four panels portray sea grass, sea creatures, rocks, and sailboats.
Kerry had to complete a mural application to create the piece. The application included gaining permission from the Raritan Yacht Club for use of the easement wall they share with the City. Kerry also had to create scale drawings of the project, and superimposed those images onto the proposed wall. Kerry conducted public outreach to get feedback about the proposed design, surveying over 90 people who walked by the proposed location to find out what they thought about the mural. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Kerry also had to agree to maintain the mural.
The mural application was presented to the Perth Amboy Arts Council and the Perth Amboy City Council for approval. Both voted unanimously to allow the mural to be created. Perth Amboy Artworks acted as the project sponsor, funding materials for the project, and supplying mural creation guidance. Kerry received internship hours for the mural work, which counts as credits towards a Mason Gross School of the Arts degree. The Perth Amboy Recreation Department agreed to supply materials to cover future maintenance costs of the mural.
Perth Amboy Artworks was founded in October 2015. The group’s current programming has been to help revitalize Perth Amboy by creating public art and by producing pop-up events in vacant and underutilized spaces. “The nautical mural and the events we have produced have added vibrancy, highlighted the City’s assets, created new interest in businesses, attracted visitors, given artists opportunities, and positively marketed the City as a destination for Arts & Culture” said Caroline Pozycki Torres, Founder and Chair of Perth Amboy Artworks.
