Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Learn about the Jersey Shore


If you have ever wondered why there is an elephant-shaped building on the beach in Margate or how some of the Jersey Shore towns got their unique names, come to Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, August 4 at 7:00 pm to listen to author Kevin Woyce give a colorful tour of Jersey Shore history.

Mr. Woyce will range from shipwrecks to lighthouses, from the first seaside resorts to today’s most popular boardwalks. His talk will be accompanied by slides of original photographs of landmarks and vintage images of historic sites, events and people.

The author of Jersey Shore History & Facts and Hudson River Lighthouses & History, Mr. Woyce is a lifelong resident of the Garden State who lives with his wife in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. His next book will be about historic places and events along the Connecticut coast.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/ and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

“Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture”

Theodore Roosevelt said in 1907 about the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens: “There is no greater artistic genius living in this or any other country.” Bernardsville resident and award-winning filmmaker Paul G. Sanderson has produced and directed an acclaimed feature documentary film on Saint-Gaudens which was recently broadcast nationally on PBS and had its premiere at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Sanderson will introduce the Director’s Cut of the film when it is shown at Bernardsville Public Library on Thursday, July 22 at 7:00 pm.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture documents the life and work of this great American sculptor who was born in 1848 and lived into the 20th century. Trained in Paris and Rome, Saint-Gaudens is considered America’s premier sculptor of the 19th and early 20th centuries. During a career that spanned three decades, he created nearly 150 works of art including a number of major public monuments to heroes of the Civil War. Master of American Sculpture traces Saint-Gaudens’ life, both personally and professionally, from his birth in Dublin, Ireland to his work in New York City and Paris to his death in Cornish, New Hampshire. The film reveals him as a leader among artists who was one of the first to integrate architecture, landscape design and monumental sculpture as well as becoming the pre-eminent creator of bas-relief. Often compared to the great artists of the Italian Renaissance, he invigorated sculpture in the United States and raised it to new heights during his lifetime.

As producer/director and president of Our Town Films, Inc., Paul Sanderson has enjoyed considerable success in creating television documentaries and educational programs. Since founding Our Town Films in 1992, Mr. Sanderson has won over 30 national awards, including nine CINE Golden Eagles. The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has honored Mr. Sanderson by placing one of his films in its permanent collection. His programs have appeared on NBC, PBS, The Discovery Channel, A&E Network, The History Channel and CNBC. His films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian.

There is no charge to attend the library program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/ and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

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NOTE: For further information about the film or Our Town Films, please call Mr. Sanderson at 201-401-3908.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

"Water Works" with Mad Science

Taking off from this year’s summer reading club theme, Make a splash @ your library, Bernardsville Public Library will offer a program called "Water Works," presented by Mad Science, on Friday, July 23 at 1:30 pm. This science class, designed for children aged three to five, is definitely not dry! Preschoolers will learn about what floats, what doesn’t and why. They’ll take a plunge into the science behind liquids, absorption, and surface tension. And each child will go home with a shimmering water tube.

Based in Pennington, NJ, Mad Science has more than 35 instructors reaching tens of thousands of children each year. The group’s goal is to engage, entertain and inspire the next generation of scientists. Mad Scientists clad in white lab coats demonstrate that there is much more to science than what children read in textbooks.

“Our goal is to spark the imagination of children and turn them on to science,” says Mad Science franchise owner Vance Fox, “We do this through a combination of dramatic hands-on fun [while] at the same time applying pure science principles. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a child grasp a scientific concept, have fun doing it and then wanting more.”

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is required. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Kid Stuff, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.