“This is a wonderful town…art is important…what better place could there be…” said artist Yan Cao at this week’s meeting of the Mayor and Council.
Cao, whose artwork was on display at the meeting, made the statement after being named Artist of the Month and accepting the certificate from Mayor Lori Hohenleitner.
Cao presents her artistry in watercolors primarily as a means of showing natural beauty and seascapes in a medium that draws people to the tranquility as well as natural beauty of the scenes. She is a member of the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council whose mission is to strengthen the community through the arts.
The Arts Council, located at 54 First Avenue, is an all volunteer organization that was formed 20 years ago and incorporated shortly after as a non-profit organization that has drawn new partnerships and creative programming to the borough. The Council presents exhibitions in its galleries and front windows and also offers a boutique of local art, classes and workshops.
Yan , in speaking of her nature scenes, noted “Poetry is how you feel….I paint poetry.”
Her work brings elegance to any art collection. She told the governing body at the meeting that she has been in the United States from her native Shanghai for 20 years, and has lived in Atlantic Highlands for ten years, drawn by its character, its beauty at both sunrise and sunset,, and its unique property and quality from the marina to the residences and main street to its history. “This is an artist’s paradise,” the popular artist told the Council.
