"I was trying to think of a name that would be real zingy," said Linda Vonderschmidt-LaStella, who came up with the name for the every Friday in June arts festival in the borough that starts Friday, June 5 with the unveiling of a 6-foot sculpture of a Junebug.
The festival, now in its second year, was the brainchild of Vonderschmidt-LaStella, a member of the Metuchen Cultural Arts Commission and the Chamber of Commerce.
Vonderschmidt-LaStella said the borough has a large number of artists and an arts festival just seemed apt.
Metuchen is known as the "Brainy Borough" and Vonderschmidt-LaStella thought it was high time the borough be thought of as an "artsy borough."
She noted that the borough seal incorporates both a quill and an artist's palette, signifying the borough's strength in both the literary and creative arts.
The 16-year borough resident is a ceramic artist and runs a studio called Earthsongs in the Metuchen.
She said she brought up the idea of an arts festival to Caroline Woodruff of the Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce and together they put together the first festival last year.
This year, a sculpture will be added as an icon to the opening of this festival.
Borough resident Roy Chambers, an artist and arts teacher at Westfield High School, said he is really excited to be creating the first sculpture for the festival.
"It will be my interpretation of a Junebug and will be made from found metals and plastic," said Chambers, who specializes in art made from recycled materials.
The festival will open with a ribbon-cutting at Borough Hall to celebrate the opening of an art gallery in the building's rotunda.
About 62 visual artists and 36 performing groups will participate in the festival, every Friday in June.
"It is an opportunity for artists to get exposure for themselves and also a chance for visitors from outside to discover Metuchen," the Chamber of Commerce's Woodruff said.
The festival is funded by corporate sponsorships and private donations.
"There is no fee for artists to exhibit or for performers to perform, or for visitors," she said.
Posted By: Daniel Moss
Tuesday, June 9th 2009 at 2:53PM
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