Fine arts professor receives 2016 fellowship from New Jersey State Council of the Arts

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts recently awarded Professor of Fine Arts Harry I. Naar a 2016 Fellowship. Naar was one of 21 artists selected amongst more than 400 applicants to receive the award, which comes with a significant grant. In a letter to Naar announcing the fellowship, NJSCA Chair Elizabeth Mattson wrote that it was “awarded in the recognition of the outstanding work” and to enable him to further his artistic goals. A member of the Rider faculty since 1980, Naar teaches all levels of studio courses, gallery management, an art history class (Art and Society) and several independent study courses. He has also taught classes in the honors program. He is an exhibiting artist with works in major public and private collections. He recently returned from exhibiting in Cuba alongside Cuban artist Kelvin Lopez. In the show, Lopez displayed his urban landscapes of Cuba and Naar exhibited his landscape drawings of New Jersey. Many people do not appreciate the beauty of the New Jersey landscape, but Naar looks beyond the cliche of the Turnpike and the industrial park to favor the natural environment. “What we see in New Jersey is both the Turnpike as well as the country,” he says. “I think of New Jersey more from the perspective of a beautiful view of dense trees and vast landscapes.” Before focusing on drawing, Naar was well-known for his still-life paintings. Over time, his interests evolved to produce black and white landscapes with a felt-tip pen, which are sometimes enhanced with color. “I became more involved and fascinated with the arabesque formation of trees and branches, and working with a pen allowed me to become more expressive and spontaneous in my work,” he says. “It allowed me to see things both in a recognizable and abstract way.” He often starts his drawings on location, sketching scenes in pencil or ball point pen. He then expands his sketches to create more developed drawings. He has experimented with drawing on increasingly larger scales and on canvas rather than paper. In 2015, Naar arranged for Lopez and seven other Cuban artists to exhibit their works in the Rider University Art Gallery after a chance meeting with Marilyn Sampera Rosado, curator for the Center of Visual Arts in Havana, Cuba, while visiting the Caribbean island. The visiting artists had to arrange for their artwork to be delivered by hand to the U.S. To exhibit in Cuba, Naar had to do the same but in reverse: He rolled his drawings in a tube so he could bring them onto the chartered airplane as a carry-on item. In Cuba, Naar visited many artists and was surprised at the success so many artists have achieved. He says that Cubans receive an excellent art education in Cuba and that many artists, even the self-taught, are very accomplished. Overall, though, conditions for the general population remain challenging. “From what I saw, most of the people are pretty poor as well as friendly and resilient,” he says. “When you walk around, you see crumbling buildings and wonder if there are people who live there, and then discover that there are. The buildings were magnificent and the architecture was beautiful. You can still see remnants of these marble buildings, but because they don’t have money for repairs, buildings are falling apart.” 

From the 1930s until 1954, Cuba was a destination for Americans. "Although the rest of the world has been visiting Cuba continually (and buying art and supporting artists), American tourism has been restricted," Naar says. "However, Cuban artists have not been subject to the embargo, though they still have difficulty getting supplies." Naar’s visit came at a time of possibly momentous change for Cuba. The Obama administration has tried to forge a new era in the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. In March, Obama became the first president in 50 years to visit the island nation when he touched down in Havana with First Lady Michelle Obama, his children and dozens of members of Congress. “I think the people in Cuba are excited about the changes that can happen,” Naar says. "However, I was delighted to visit Cuba and experience its colorful and vibrant ambiance."