(Englewood, NJ – September 30, 2024) – One River School, an organization on a mission to “transform art education”® in America, just launched its fall exhibit season highlighting the work of native New Yorker and Brooklyn resident, artist Bonnie Morano. Titled The First Ten and Spiritual Sport, the exhibits combine the paradox of contemporary art with Morano’s roots in faith and are open to the public in Allendale, NJ, and in Englewood, NJ, through December 8, and November 11, respectively.

“As we continue the One River School tradition of supporting emerging artists, Bonnie Morano and her inspired contemporary art were a natural fit,” explained Matt Ross, One River Founder and CEO. “Over the years we’ve given countless artists their start on the way to a thriving career and broad recognition. We look forward to seeing Bonnie’s talent and the vision in her work gain the notoriety that it deserves.” 

Morano elected to leave a career in finance to pursue her passion for the arts, earning her MFA from Hunter College in 2023. She made her gallery debut in Los Angeles this past summer in a three-person exhibition with Rhett Baruch Gallery. Her exhibits at One River School mark her first solo show.

“With the focus of my work exploring faith, gratitude, and joy, I couldn’t be more pleased showing my work at One River which has such genuine ties to the local community and the art community,” said Bonnie Morano, artist, Brooklyn, NY. “The strategy and planning from my finance roots enabled me to take a refreshing approach to creating symbolic contemporary art paintings.” 

Morano’s exhibit The First Ten delves into the power, creativity, and completeness of the number ten, from ten plagues, Ten Commandments, a quorum of ten. Spiritual Sport looks to answer the question, “What happens when the painter’s fantasy draft team is Titian, Matisse and devout faith playing in the stadium of 21st century abstraction?”

An online gallery of the artworks, including those available for sale can be found here.

Exhibition Details

The First Ten

September 26 - December 8, 2024

One River School, 319 Franklin Turnpike, Allendale, NJ

Every stable structure begins with a strong foundation. The work presented in The First Ten is comprised of the artist’s visual foundation of symmetrical forms. The number ten, a one with a partner, is the first of the digits to allor for systematic structure through multiplicity. The body of work includes a group of then sepia-toned paintings on paper created as an index of drawings which focus on line, shape, angle, gesture, and curve. This quorum of monotones creates a language from which future paintings are constructed. These oil-on-canvas paintings are in a full spectrum of value and high key color, and are a sampling of subsequent works.

Spiritual Sport

September 29 - November 11, 2024

One River School, 49 N Dean St., Englewood, NJ

From the movie The Field of Dreams to a “Hail Mary” pass, the connection between religion and sports is both powerful and popular. The two disciplines share common structures such as authority, hierarchy, discipline, rules, consequences and rewards. The collection of new oil on canvas paintings examines the intersection between transcendence and sports, mediated through 15th and 16th century Renaissance paintings.  

ABOUT ONE RIVER

Founded in 2012 in Englewood, NJ, “one river” west of New York City, One River School has embarked on a mission to “Transform art education”® in America. Today, the company’s innovative program teaches thousands of students in 15 locations across six states. The School is unrivaled in its focus on the art of today and celebrating living and contemporary artists. This comes alive in each classroom as well as in the art on exhibit in the gallery spaces of each school. The company has developed a proprietary method of teaching art and digital design classes to people of all ages. Very simply, One Rivers’ students have more fun, learn faster, and produce more compelling creative outcomes. Class and camp offerings range from drawing, cartooning, manga, and painting to digital design, animation, street art, Cosplay, and more. Learn more at www.oneriverschool.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Media Contact:

Courtney Kraemer McLeod

One River School

ckraemer@oneriverschool.com

203-253-3257