Last Week for 'Bloomfield Avenue Hotline'

Modern technology may have made pay phones a thing of the past, but an artistic collaboration between Bloomfield College and the Montclair Art Museum has revitalize the phone booth.

The Bloomfield Avenue Hotline involves two phone booths; one at the College in the College Library and one at the Museum in Lehman Court, the Museum’s main entrance hall. Users can hear pre-recorded messages based on conversations artists Karina Aguila Skvirsky and Liselot van der Heijden have had with members from each community or leave messages that can be heard by others.

“This joint venture brings together two institutions that value art as a way to unite communities,” Marion Terenzio, vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty at Bloomfield College said in a press release. “We are creating greater access to arts and education for the public by pooling our resources and expertise.”

The artists were the winners of the e Bloomfield Avenue Prize, which challenged artist to create a public art project spanning both the College and the Museum.

Lora Urbanelli, director of the Montclair Art Museum, said the museum is delighted with the first collaboration between the Museum and Bloomfield College, and said she was happy the public project would unites not only the two institutions but the surrounding communities as well.

“The nature of this innovative project also offers a wonderful opportunity for people to connect in a very personal way,” Urbanelli said in the release.

Both locations will offer the public opportunity to interact with the exhibit by using the phone for listening and offering messages to the other community. 

The Bloomfield Avenue Prize was funded by the Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Formula Grant.

The exhibit runs through June 16.