the gARTen @ 713 Cookman
Why Donate?
Well, we sure could use it to fight the good fight.​
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We are NOT a 501 c(3), or any other type of non-profit. We're three individuals, trying to do something righteous, with help from our friends. We receive no funding & depend on contributions from visitors & those who find us online to cover the insurance which is the condition of our tenancy, parking, paints, event breakage (ugh!) and all the other things that are needed for such an endeavor.
About Us
In April, 2015 Joe Harvard was scouting the location of an outdoor stage he would be hosting for the upcoming Asbury Underground Art & Music Crawl, when he noticed the over grown lot, right behind the little plaza between Parlor Gallery and Cookman Creamery where his tent stage would go up. He obtained permission to use the space, which formerly held the community Garden of Joy, but no one could find a key. After Pat Schiavino arrived with the bolt cutters, Joe spent the next six weeks cleaning up what he initially called The Garden of Good and Easel to prepare for June's Asbury Underground.
The Beauty Thru Decay exhibit featured the steel work of Mallory Massara and Joe's photo series of that name, along with the music of Mark Davis [AKA Xylophone of Wrench] in the gARTen itself. The event was a great success, and a trio was formed. Joe spent the next year turning found objects -- mainly plastic -- into Day-glo painted, sometimes torch-melted pieces that lived outdoors. At the encouragement of Parlor's Jenn Hampton, a proposal was submitted to, and accepted by owners Sackman, NJ, allowing us to open to the public on weekends. The newly christened gARTen @ 713 Cookman opened to the public on May 29, 2016. Our goal is become a year-round, solar-powered, outdoor 'trash art' and Day-glo black-light gallery & garden.
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