From vacant to vibrant: Artists transform empty store into limited-time exhibit in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- "Atlantic City as a whole is always going through transformations. It's ever evolving and it's also ripe for possibility," said Kate O'Malley, interim Executive Director for the Atlantic City Arts Foundation.
The foundation has three pillars, one of which being the ARTeriors program, founded in 2015.
"We take these vacant or disused spaces and it becomes this little time capsule of unmatched creativity and possibility," said O'Malley.
This time, for its 9th iteration, ARTeriors is using the former site of the Payless Shoe Source in Atlantic City. The space was donated by Tanger Outlets to become the site of the temporary art exhibit.
23 artists were selected to take their corner of the room and transform it into an installation that tells a story with colors, shapes, collages, and more.
Kenneth Lazan Faulk Jr. used archival images of Atlantic City and his family members to paint a picture of his heritage.
"My art was trying to represent the working class and the things that don't normally get highlighted when you hear stories about Atlantic City or any city for that matter," he said. "My family were lifeguards, they were seamstresses, they worked as tailors. And I just wanted to put them in a position that they were highlighted."
Another artist, Yelixza Figueroa from Galloway, sought to express her own journey of personal metamorphosis through a colorful gradient of soaring butterflies.
"The fact that art has become such a huge thing here, it's just beautiful to me," she said. "The Arts Foundation, they're really bringing light to things that people need to see."
ARTeriors at 2002 Baltic Avenue in Tanger Outlets will be open for free or donation-based public viewing from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Thursdays through Sundays from now until February 19, 2023.
To learn more, visit their website.
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