THE GALLERY

The Gallery is a public-private partnership of the Summit Free Public Library and Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Funding for the gallery was provided by a grant from the Summit Area Foundation. For more information on the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, please visit www.artcenternj.org.

Currently on display:

Ida Picker: Secret Spaces

November 1, 2025 – January 2, 2026

Ida Picker
Seeking Shelter Under a Red Sky, 2025, Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Ida Picker began her Necessary Things series—expressive, boldly colored studies of her household objects. These works evolved into an exploration of the interconnections between humans and machines, evoking machine-inspired animate beings exploding with tubes and wires. Against the backdrop of global warming and political catastrophe, her paintings became more surrealistic and abstract. In the works on display, Picker presents strange creatures evolved from machines and nature in illogical settings, reflecting her struggle with authoritarianism and the horrific wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Picker’s art is a statement of courage and hope. In her focus on color and form, she expresses joy and outrage.

An English major graduate of Harvard College, Picker had careers in journalism and teaching before pursuing art full-time in 2016. She has studied with the Art Students League in Manhattan, the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, NJ. Her previous exhibitions include solo shows at Khawam Gallery, Livingston, NJ, the Municipal Building of Livingston, NJ, and Ann’s Place Gallery at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Juried group shows include Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY, among others.

Art at the Library

Currently on display:

Ida Picker: Secret Spaces

November 1, 2025 – January 2, 2026