TASK the A-TEAM Art on Display at PEAC
December 8th, 2011

Coming this January, PEAC Health & Fitness will proudly display artwork from the A-TEAM artist group based at The Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). The artwork shall be available for purchase with all proceeds directly benefitting the artists.

The A-TEAM was created in February 2001 with the support of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) Board of Trustees. A group of artists who regularly use the services of the soup kitchen formed an artists' cooperative known as the A-TEAM Artists of Trenton. The purpose of the group is fourfold:

1. To promote the work of TASK artists in all media.
2. To work together as a group to support and encourage each other's success.
3. To learn entrepreneurial skills by taking responsibility for developing and maintaining the A-TEAM as a business entity.
4. To generate good will and public support for the artists, the TASK community and the city of Trenton.

Studio space and basic supplies are generously provided to the A-TEAM artists by TASK, and the day-to-day workings of the group are coordinated by a longtime TASK volunteer. The artists and volunteer coordinator meet once a week in the multi-purpose room at TASK for about five hours, during which time the artists work on projects of their choice. All the A-TEAM artists are self-taught, and they work in a wide variety of media, including paint, pencil and ink, pastel, collage, and found-object construction. Their work is displayed throughout the year at TASK, and at group and individual shows in area galleries, and other such spaces, when they are offered. The group is open to all members of the soup kitchen community. The "price of admission" is a piece of artwork and participation, when possible, at A-TEAM meetings.

The A-TEAM artists hold monthly meetings to plan exhibits and projects, make policy and budgetary decisions, show and discuss new artwork, arrange visits from local artists and other guests and organize field trips. In addition to the individual artwork they create throughout the year, A-TEAM members, as a group, have designed and produced note cards and posters that are on sale at local art galleries and museums, as well as at all A-TEAM exhibits and year-round at the soup kitchen.

For more information on PEAC's art display, please contact Laura Geltch, Marketing at PEAC Health & Fitness at 609-883-2000, by email. PEAC is located at 1440 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ. For more information about the A-TEAM, contact Susan Darley, Arts Program Coordinator by email or call 609-695-5456, ext. 129.