Deanne Wilson Landress of NetNomads knows just how to involve Maplewood in her Internet cafe.
The works on the walls of her Baker Street establishment all come from Maplewood artists.
Singers, whether jazz, funk or blues musicians, who perform on an occasional Saturday night are from the area as well.
Like Jay Dougherty and Friends (now known as The Jaybirds) and the Waikiki three, a ukulele trio.
Or Clyde & Don, who play acoustic guitars and harmonicas with solid roots in the blues, country and folk.
Landress said that’s the vision of her cafe;
to be a resource for locals and to serve as a creative outlet for the artistic community. In fact, living in or around Maplewood is a prerequisite for being part of it all.
“The whole concept is about giving local residents a venue. There’s so much here,” said Landress, a 20-year Maplewood resident. “Everything about it is local.”
The concept started gradually, when local architect Bill Figdor came in one day and showed Landress his artwork. Figdor’s series captures the life and vibrancy of New York City,
where he works as a commercial architect.
His series includes yellow cabs congregating in front of the New York Public Library and a row of elegant brownstones.
While living in New Y ork, Figdor would always pass through a street filled with brownstones that had a mixture of styles; Romanesque arches, Byzantine and Greek Revival columns, with
Florentine influences. It was one of his favorite spots, and he decided to capture its images on canvas.
Figdor, whose architectural work includes residential projects, took up painting three years ago as a creative outlet, a break from the more technical aspects of his daily work.
He paints Saturday morning at New York’s Salmagundi, a professional art association.
Landress said she fell in love with Figdor’s work.
“I wanted real art. In infuses everybody with a higher quality of work,” Landress said. “Art does that better than posters.”
That was the start. Then other artists began streaming in, offering their artwork to decorate the cafe’s bare walls.
Like Nitya Brighenti, who studied art and architecture in New York and New Jersey. He moved to Maplewood in 1997 and was captivated by the charming atmosphere and landscape.
Brighenti’s watercolors include the town’s municipal building, Columbia High School, the Bergdorf Building and the train station.
There is also “Fish Eye View” by Dorothy Engel, a NetNomads regular, and a colorful way of looking at the sea and pastels and Sheila Sugerman.
The art exhibits have become so popular that Landress put Stacy Lane in charge of setting up exhibits.
“The word is getting out,” said Lane, art coordinator. “We get so many different kinds of art.”
The cafe, which opened more than a year ago, caters to those who need access to a computer, whether they need to prepare a resume, download and print music to CDs, edit videotapes or
prepare a Web site, among other things. The cafe also offers classes.
“Or people with home businesses, if their computers break down,” Landress said.
As for the artwork, some of it is for sale. But Figdor says he prefers to keep all his work.
“That’s not why I do it,” Figdor said. “If I got rid of them, I wouldn’t have them to see the progression. And when you sell them, they’re out of the public domain.
