MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Concrete Spheres by Rising NJ Artist Featured in Longport Outdoor Climate Art Project. Longport is one of two sites displaying striking climate art exhibitions by notable New Jersey concrete artist Jessica Osborne-Mungekar. 

South Jersey Sculptor Jessica Osborne - Mungekar is one of a handful of artists selected from a large pool of proposals across New Jersey to partake in the Climate Resilience Community-Based Arts Program, bringing awareness to coastal flooding and the communities affected.

Jessica was selected by Chase Jackson, Executive Director of the Ocean City Arts Center (OCAC), Ocean City, NJ, one of five organizations awarded the grant out of a pool of many to participate in this initiative. 

Ocean City Arts Center has partnered with the Longport Public Library as a host site for the project. The purpose of the Longport curated installation is to generate new reflections on the community's relationship to the ocean and how it affects the coastal town and its people.

Jessica wants these community-driven sculptures to reflect the natural environment and our interpersonal reflection on our relationship with nature.  

"When I saw Jessica's work, I knew they would be perfect for the mission and goals of this climate resilience project. Her vivid color palette and planet-like orb sculptures make her work relevant to this project and accessible to various age groups and cultures. It is always exciting to see how the arts can be used as a communication tool." Chase Jackson, Executive Director, Ocean City Arts Center.

Born in Philadelphia, Jessica has lived in Washington Township, Gloucester County, NJ since 2004. Initially trained in the fine arts and then in Social Work, Jessica's work focuses on how a sculpture's shape, color, and texture influence one's state of mind. Jessica's sculptures always take the form of a sphere /orb. The Orbital body represents inter-connectedness, unity, and the creation of the whole, giving one a feeling of balance, groundedness, and calm.

Jessica is excited about working with OCAC and Longport Public Library to collaborate with the local residents to utilize innovative approaches and materials, teaching them how to express themselves through painting. A group of residents came together, working individually and collectively to paint their stories about coastal flooding on both individual small cement orbs and collectively on two large cement orbs that Jessica builds in her studio. Post workshop, Jessica finished painting the large orbs tying the various images together to make one cohesive picture. The outcome is to elevate residents' awareness, sense of community, and resilience around flooding caused by sea-level rise and coastal storms.  

The Climate Resilience, Community-Based Arts Program partners the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) New Jersey Coastal Management Program (CMP) with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and is made possible, in part, with funding by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Zone Management Act's Enhancement Program Projects of Special Merit program. 

The publicly displayed sculptures will be a temporary summer-long installation on the front lawn of the Longport Historical Society Museum, Longport, NJ. 

The unveiling and celebration are scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2023, at 10:00 am.

To learn more, contact Jessica Osborne-Mungekar at jessica@finecementcraft.com