"Soul of the Message" Press Release

Who: S.A.G.E. Collective, a New Jersey-based group of artists responsible for murals all over the state. Notable murals of regional and international acclaim include a 90ft. blue whale on Newark Ave. in Jersey City, a tribute to poet Saul Williams in Trenton (featured on the poet’s web sites), and a brightly colored mechanical face on the side of the Highland Design Farm in Hopewell (featured in the Utrecht Art Supply Catalog). Members include Will Kasso, Luv One, Lank Williams Jr., Aja Washington, and Delve. http://sagecollective.blogspot.com/

What: Appropriately, S.A.G.E. is holding its first showing as a collective in its birthplace, Trenton. The show exhibits the members’ individual styles and establishes the collective as a group of fine artists as well as muralists. Each member contributed approx. five pieces of art, and each artist collaborated on an instillation in the gallery. S.A.G.E. members incorporate the broad landscape of techniques in “Urban Art” including stencils, brush painting, deconstructed letter-based and non-letter-based aerosol art, “graffiti” characters, and wheat paste. Performing at the opening will be Trenton-based hip hop group Black Collar Biz, Hustle MC, and the S.A.G.E. poet laureate Raul “Polo” Cortez. Also, Leon Rainbow will do live body painting. Wine and light refreshments will be provided.

Where: 219 Gallery, 219 East Hanover St., Trenton, NJ

When: April 8, 2011 at 6pm

The gallery space is being provided by the Trenton Downtown Association (TDA), a non-profit organization dedicated to making New Jersey’s capital city a more competitive location for business owners and a more engaging center for workers, residents and visitors. Since 1986, TDA has strived to meet this mission by nurturing and promoting arts, culture and tourism programs, downtown business development and public space initiatives.