The gallery at the Belmar Arts Center on River Road has turned into a shop for the season. The center's Holiday Shop Showcase, which opened November 9 with a reception on Saturday, November 14, fills the walls with work by its members, and every piece in the show is priced and available to take home. It runs into early January.

What is in the show

The showcase is open to all mediums: painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, mixed media and more. Work did not have to be holiday themed, and each member artist could enter up to eight pieces. Because the point of the show is selling, when a piece goes home with a buyer, the artist is asked to bring in a replacement, so the walls keep changing through December.

Gallery hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment. Artwork pickup is scheduled for January 9 and 10, which makes the first week of January the last chance to buy from this round.

Jazz on the third Thursday

The center also turns into a small jazz room once a month. The Monthly Jazz Jam, hosted by guitarist Jeff Pecca, runs the third Thursday of each month from 7 to 9:30 p.m., with doors at 6:30 and a featured artist each night. The next one is Thursday, November 19, and December's falls on the 17th. Musicians with some jazz background can sit in, and listeners are welcome too; a $5 donation is asked at the door. The room is small, so drummers are asked to bring brushes or rods rather than sticks.

The E Street piano

The longer project on the center's desk is Pyanoe Plaza. The center is placing an outdoor piano in the plaza to honor Stelma Sancious and her son, Belmar's own David Sancious, a multi-instrumentalist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. The connection runs deep in local music history: David Sancious was an original member of the E Street Band in 1972 and 1973, his mother let the band rehearse in her garage, and the band took its name from E Street in Belmar, where the family lived.

The center says the first round of fundraising for the piano is complete. Phase two is a Buy a Brick campaign: residents can order a personalized 12 by 12 inch brick that will be set into Pyanoe Plaza around the piano. Bricks are ordered through the center's website.

Also in Belmar this season

The borough's Christmas tree lighting is Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and its menorah lighting is Monday, December 7, from 6 to 7 p.m., according to the borough calendar.

How to go

The Belmar Arts Center is at 608 River Road, near the Shark River. The Belmar station on the North Jersey Coast Line is a few blocks away. For appointments, the jazz email list or class information, call 732-749-3360.

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