For me & my husbands 19 year anniversary we had the pleasure of celebrating our journey at Art is Bond, an interactive art gallery based in Montclair NJ. This space was/is in a word Amazing. We entered the space and was greeted by some awesome music & the lovely founder, who gave us a quick review of what to expect while walking through the space. The first interactive feature was the cool red carpet plus step & repeat featuring the name of the space(an ode to the 90's colloquialism "word is bond") Upon entering you can tell the founder was very intentional with the placement of each & every nostalgic piece of black art. It's a beautifully brilliant ode & execution of black culture, our layered nuances, our style, fashions, phrases, beauty & brilliance. This space is a content creation haven filled with endless creative possibilities. Naturally you'd think this was a pop up selfie museum, but it's much more. Not only is this space designed to go down memory lane of the 80's & 90's, you can see and touch some relic gems. You can rent the space for special occasions such as Birthdays, art showcase, book signing, just to name a few, the whole space can be transformed to fit your individual need. From the lovely living room set adorned with animal print wall paper, beautiful black art, quotes, a rotary dial telephone, a cozy couch with colorful throw pillows & last but not least a working record player with plenty of old school vinyl to set the mood. Making your way further inside your met with a wall covered with framed still photos of classic black cinema from the 80's & 90's. As your looking over your fav's, the founder ask's how many of the 24 movies can you name(an absolutely fun prompt). To your left a life size magazine perfectly named "Highly Melanated", to live out your fantasy of being on the cover of a magazine. A nostalgic bedroom scene featuring a wall covered in pictures of black stars from movies, music and iconic tv-shows. A wall covered with books from black authors(it's the intentional thoughtfulness for me). A spot dedicated solely to the one & only Queen Bee Lil Kim, with colorful fur coats, wigs & glasses to perfectly imitate our Queen. Since it's too hard to choose a favorite installation, because each & every one is amazing. I'll share that I absolutely loved the walls honoring black cinema and the opportunity to sit at a cute curated desk & write a letter to your younger self (there's that intentional thoughtfulness)you can leave the sealed letter for someone else to read or take it home! In a nutshell, this colorfully curated establishment is a must to experience & create fond memories that'll last for years to come.
PS
There's a lot more details, perks & installations I didn't mention 20+ to be exact. Word is bond tell a friend to tell a friend to come skip down memory lane & reminisce about back in the day! read more