New Year, New Update
Propagate Studio's new ArtBNB, upcoming events, lots of opps
Is it too far into January to still be saying Happy New Year? I hope your holiday season was whatever you needed it to be—fun or celebratory or calm or restorative, or just another day.
Thank you to everyone who came out to say hi and do some holiday shopping during my busy market season last month! I really enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting some new ones. I hope your gift recipients were thrilled with what you picked out for them (including if that recipient was yourself).
-Kerri
Podcast Appearances
In November, the beloved podcast New Jersey Is the World came to an end with a finale live show at Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, and I was thrilled to be invited to participate! You can listen to a recording of the show here.
It really meant a lot to me over the years to be a part of the show’s extended universe, from appearing as a guest to being mentioned a lot to having the opportunity to co-host three “book club” episodes where we interviewed Jersey authors about their Jersey books.
This one isn’t really New Jersey related but we did discuss New Jersey Fan Club and Devils hockey a bit up top, so I’ll mention it anyway—I had so much fun as a guest on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a podcast that breaks down every song ever produced by one of my favorite bands, WHY?, for their episode about the song “Whispers into the Other.”
Upcoming Events
*Please note that the Montclair Flea has cancelled all of their January dates, so I will not be there on 1/18 & 1/19 as previously planned and advertised.*
Jersey Art Book Fair
Saturday & Sunday, February 22 & 23, 2025
Mana Contemporary: 888 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ
More details coming soon, but something fun in Northern Bergen County on this date!
Monday, February 24, 2025
Burlington County Book Festival
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Burlington County Library: 5 Pioneer Blvd., Westampton, NJ
Can’t make it to an event? Shop our online souvenir shop! New Jersey Fan Club is also available wherever books are sold—if your favorite local shop doesn’t have it, ask them to order it!
Shop Update
Just as a general reminder, all of our items are available for sale in our webstore! They’re also available for wholesale for brick & mortar businesses—just email me and I’ll send you our WS catalog!
I have some fun new stuff in the works that I hope to share soon—as always, as a newsletter subscriber you’ll be the first to know.
Dense Magazine launched their second issue, focused on the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913, at their Newark Zine Fest last month. We’re looking forward to picking up a copy!
See it before it closes: The Newark Museum of Art’s annual staff art exhibition is on view until February 9th.
Do you remember all of the news stories about where they were filming A Complete Unknown around New Jersey? Well, the film is in theatres now, and you can see fun movie magic including Cape May standing in for Newport, RI and Little City Books in Hoboken set-dressed as a record store.
And speaking of things filmed in New Jersey, Severance season 2 is out on AppleTV+ on January 17th. A recent New Yorker profile of Adam Scott mentioned the show’s New York filming locations but failed to mention that the iconic former Bell Labs building in Holmdel is used as the exterior and lobby for the show’s workplace. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll remember when we held an InstaMeet around a decade ago, before the building was reopened to the public!
It started with joke post on social media, but now it’s a real thing: Literie, a luxury candle company with a focus on place-based scents, has created a “Drones Over New Jersey” candle. Scent notes: “conspiracy and fear.”
Thunder Road Books in Spring Lake, where we did a launch event for New Jersey Fan Club back in 2022, is expanding into a larger location! I can’t wait to see what they do with twice as much space!
Highlighting locally-based independent retailers who carry our products!
Oakflower Brewing Company
Location: Millington (Long Hill), NJ
I was so excited when Oakflower reached out about carrying New Jersey Go Fish! because I briefly lived in Millington and because the brewery’s designs are super cool. They also do partnerships with the Long Hill Library and have supported other local organizations like the Raptor Trust. Even though I don’t drink beer, I’ve heard from trusted sources that theirs is very good! I am a big fan of everything they’re doing to build community, and I really wish they’d been around when I lived in town.
Stop by their lovely taproom to try their brews, check out one of their events, and pick up a pack of Go Fish! to play while you hang out in their beautiful space. And if they have this hat in stock when you’re there, grab me one?
Welcome to the NJ Q+A, where we hear from an interesting New Jerseyan! Interview has been lightly edited for space.
This month, I was excited to connect with Sam Matthews of Propagate Studio, who longtime readers of the newsletter may recognize as having hosted us for a pop-up shop back in March 2023 and who has a design in our current sticker machine series! Sam is always doing new and interesting work out of her Stewartsville studio, and she is currently raising money via Kickstarter to expand and be able to offer overnight artist residencies.
For those who aren't familiar, how would you describe Propagate Studio?
Propagate Studio is a creative space where we host workshops, class series, private events, a creative vending machine with local art, and New Jersey’s only pay-what-you-can art supply thrift shop!
Can you tell us a bit about the ArtBnb you're currently working on and raising money for on Kickstarter?
The ArtBnb is a new project and branch of Propagate Studio that we are opening literally in our front yard. It is an immersive retreat house where we will be hosting overnight and day experiences. It’s going to be a place for people to continue to grow their creativity. The house will host five beds but we plan to offer a commuter ticket for folks who love locally or want to stay in a local hotel but still participate in the retreats. We actually just reached out goal of $10,000 total donations but are still accepting contributions through our Kickstarter campaign until January 26th! We have amazing tiers set up including getting your name put in a mural in the house, a ticket to any of our retreats for 2025 that we are planning and more!
How does where you're located in New Jersey play into your business?
We are located in a unique part of the state that is so beautiful. We are over the border from both the Lehigh Valley and Crayola Factory, and a little over an hour from NYC, the Poconos, and Philadelphia! They named it the Garden State after our neck of the woods. We have loads of quaint small towns, unique shopping, and creative communities.
It has been so cool to see how much you've grown the studio, both on social media and in what you offer your community. What advice would you give someone who is hoping to similarly expand their reach?
Keep doing it. Keep trying. Keep posting. Do the silly trends. Make silly dance videos. Or make videos that are you! Being your authentic self behind your account comes through and it’s what people (and the algorithm) love to see. It’s like people say: you have to play the lottery to win the lottery. You have to engage with social media and your followers for there to be an expanding reach. Try to enjoy it and even see it as a virtual journal or portfolio.
Besides the ArtBnb, what else is on the horizon for you and Propagate this year?
We are working on opening the ArtBnb by February and have plans to open a few Propagate Thrift outposts! We have North and South Jersey locations lined up and are so thrilled to have our pay-what-you-can thrift experience in more places in 2025.
Project 14C is still accepting applications for their special projects residency in Jersey City, which provides “free studio space to individual artists (or groups of collaborating artists) of all disciplines to create and complete projects during the time period.” Deadline: 1/12.
DC Gallery & Studio in Millville is seeking visual artists to exhibit in their gallery this year. Deadline: 1/15.
Montclair Film’s monthly StorySLAM, which features readers telling stories for six minutes each, is accepting storyteller applications for their January 30th show, themed “Out with the Old.” Deadline: 1/21.
The Photo Center’s first monthly Instagram-based photography contest of the year is rewarding store gift cards to the winner of their macro photography contest. Deadline: 1/28.
The Jersey City Mural Arts Program is now accepting applications for mural artists for their 2025 roster. Deadline: 1/31 at 5PM EST.
The Lower Passaic River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, in partnership with Newark City Parks Foundation, Newark Arts and the New York — New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program requests proposals from artists “to participate in a 13-month process intended to engage the public around critical water challenges and other environmental concerns.” Letter of interest deadline: 1/31.