Jersey City, NJ – The Central Avenue Special Improvement District Management Corporation, in partnership with the Jersey City Board of Education is pleased to announce the twenty (20) winners for the fourth annual Heights Halloween Window Painting Contest on Central Avenue. A short award ceremony to recognize the winners was held on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 107 Bowers Gallery and ArtSpace. The twenty student winners had their artwork displayed (in photograph form) at the art gallery during the ceremony.
In total, 145 students painted Halloween window portraits on 96 participating storefront locations along the Central Avenue shopping district (North Street to Manhattan Avenue). Students in grades 3rd through 8th partook in the contest using their knowledge of primary colors (black, white, blue, yellow, red) to paint an assortment of fun Halloween scenes for all to enjoy. The twenty winners were selected based on the categories of fall season, humor, content, and overall composition per grade level.
“As art educators, and artists, it is important to the Visual Arts Department of the Jersey City Public Schools to nurture within their developing student artists the joy of sharing their talents with the community in which they live,” says Ann Marley, District Supervisor for the Visual Arts Department. “Central Avenue businesses and the Jersey City Public Schools have built a partnership to do just that! Student artists from across the district under the guidance of their exemplary art teachers actually create art in real time for the community. The students and teachers were so excited and happy to be recognized by shoppers and businesses alike and felt great accomplishment in knowing they had and do bring joy to others through their art. Thank you to all of the participating Central Avenue businesses for providing this wonderful opportunity for our Jersey City Public School community.”
The panel of judges include Councilman Ward D, Michael Yun; ChicpeaJC blogger, Lynn Hazzan; Artist Kristin DeAngelis who owns and operates 107 Bowers Gallery and ArtSpace; John Mcinerney, owner of Hudson County Art Supply (469 Central); and Joe Nachbaur, State Farm Agent and CASID Vice-President (N). Judges were tasked with the difficult decision of selecting only 20 winners.
“Picking winners wasn’t as easy as I thought,” noted judge John Mcinerney. “The work was interesting and done with good effort. All of the kids did an awesome job. I’m happy that my business relocated to Central where I can join the ongoing effort to reward creativity in our community.”
Winners received prize ribbons along with a variety of gifts generously donated by Central Avenue businesses including Joe Nachbaur, State Farm Agent (505 Central); Print Square (310 Central); Kennedy Department Store (270 Central); Renato’s Pizza Masters (278 Central), Novick Hardware (302 Central); Papa John’s Pizza (340 Central), Cuteticles (410 Central), and Stop & Shop Supermarkets (232 Central). Additionally, Print Square, a small business owned and operated by the Shabbir family, will select one school from the list of winners in this contest and donate a brand new 3D printer. The winning school, PS# 27, was announced at the awards event.
Trick-or-treaters along Central Avenue will get to enjoy the artwork during this year’s Halloween festivity which falls on a Wednesday. Storefront windows will be cleaned and portraits removed starting on Thursday, November 1st.
The winners of the contest are:
| Student | Grade | School | Portrait # | Category |
| Samirah Barnett | 3rd | PS# 15 | 1 | Fall Season |
| Hy’amovi Patterson | 4th | PS# 41 | 65 | Humor |
| Swara Patel | 4th | PS# 25 | 93 | Content |
| Freymi Ramirez | 4th | PS# 14 | 120 | Composition |
| Daniel Hernandez | 5th | PS# 6 | 99 | Fall Season |
| Ludelle Marasigan | 5th | PS# 38 | 106 | Humor |
| Naomi Humphries | 5th | PS# 14 | 118 | Content |
| Angely Ortiz | 5th | PS# 14 | 116 | Composition |
| Azzure Benthall | 5th | PS# 39 | 82 | Humor |
| Asana Pollard | 6th | PS# 28 | 32 | Content |
| Stephanie Munoz-Macareno | 6th | PS# 38 | 107 | Composition |
| Samantha Miller DeBruyn | 6th | PS# 27 | 136 | Fall Season |
| Faiqa Saleem | 7th | PS# 4 | 24 | Humor |
| Cassandra Caratini | 7th | PS# 4 | 21 | Content |
| Maya Navarro | 7th | PS# 4 | 23 | Composition |
| Chloe Bernabe | 7th | Academy 1 | 75 | Fall Season |
| Ashanti Love | 8th | PS# 7 | 40 | Humor |
| Saumitra Prabhu | 8th | Academy 1 | 70 | Content |
| Ashley Arkais | 8th | PS# 38 | 111 | Composition |
| Shrushti Chavan | 8th | Academy 1 | 74 | Fall Season |
This project was made possible through the efforts of the Central Avenue S.I.D. Management Corp. and funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
