Works by Jill Kerwick are currently on display at Monmouth University’s Pollak Gallery
By Mary Ann Bourbeau
WEST LONG BRANCH – For the past 15 years, Jill Kerwick has lived on a 48-acre farm along with her husband, Arthur Kontos, and their rabbits, goats, cows, mini donkeys, horses, chickens, peacocks, quails, guinea hens, cats, a pheasant and a turkey.
The menagerie provides Kerwick, a longtime Red Bank artist, with plenty of inspiration for her work. She often portrays the animals in humorous situations, depicting smaller ones, such as chickens and rabbits, as large as the human subjects. She enjoys keeping her artwork playful and innocent.
“All our animals are prey animals and are sweet, hardy and entertaining,” she said. “I sometimes paint what I would like to happen. I like painting that has an observational component but has its own life as a painting.”
Kerwick currently has 43 paintings and photo collages on view in the Pollak Gallery at Monmouth University Center for the Arts through Oct. 9 in a show she calls “A Sunny Day in the Shade.” An artist reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.
“I am excited to have my work shown locally at such a beautiful gallery,” she said.
Kerwick graduated from New York University in 1995 with a master’s degree in fine arts; she received her BFA from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. She taught printmaking at Monmouth University in the 1990s and has been a member of the Art Alliance in Red Bank for 40 years. She also attended the Vermont Studio Center and Anderson Ranch in Colorado and was recently accepted into the Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, where she will seek inspiration in the unique historical and ecological setting of the small island off the coast of Massachusetts.
“I will be with 15 artists and two visiting artists in a nurturing yet hard-working environment,” she said.
The opportunity at Cuttyhunk offers visual artists focused time and a supportive environment to develop their work. They live together in a historic inn and have uninterrupted hours to become immersed in their creative process. Many use the time to reflect, learn from one another and find inspiration from their coastal surroundings.
Kerwick works in oils on linen, Acryla gouache on paper or linen and photography. She often gets inspiration from the clear blue water in Vero Beach, Florida, and the lush green habitat in Costa Rica, where she spends her winters. The influence of tropical nature is a common theme in her artwork.
“Living in Costa Rica half the year puts me in a more introspective state of mind,” she said. “I have more time to read, more time to look at sunsets and sunrises. Less time driving, more journeys in my mind.”
Sometimes it’s just a fleeting moment or feeling that inspires Kerwick to create a piece.
“My work is a synthesis of memory, observation and invention,” she said. “Subject matter includes journeys, playful innocence and charming absurdity of people and animals. The subject matter could be a woman reading to a rabbit or four dancing girls entertaining animals.”
Kerwick exhibits her work at Auxier Kline in New York City and Beauregard Fine Art in Rumson. Her work is in the slide registry of White Columns in New York City, in the public collections of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, the American Water Works Service Co. and the High School of Economics and Finance in New York City. She has exhibited at the Visual Arts Center in Summit, the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster and the Vero Beach Museum of Art, where they used her image for the 30-foot banner hanging outside the museum. She has also been part of group exhibits at the CVA Gallery at Brookdale Community College, the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft and the Art Alliance in Red Bank.
Monmouth University Center for the Arts is located at 400 Cedar Ave., West Long Branch. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit jillkerwick.com or instagram.com/jillkerwick.
The article originally appeared in the September 10 – 16, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
