The harsh underside of Western art history’s most exquisite paintings and works on paper is the toxicity of the paints, thinners and solvents used in their creation. Artists today know that cadmium, chromium and lead are used in most oil, acrylic, encaustic, water color, and gouache paints. Then there’s the turpentine and mineral spirits. Throughout history, inks, pencils, pastels, and other medium share many of these hazards to both the artist and the environment.

Since 1997 following the on-going vision of founding president Virginia S. Block, the not for profit Studio Montclair, Inc, a collective of 300 area and national artists, has been breaking ground in their artist services, exhibits and outreach.

But, when creating their two Studio Montclair Galleries @ Academy Square, they didn’t break any actual ground at all. Instead, they supported two environmentally sound building practices: First, they installed their new galleries on the first and second floor of Academy Square, an office building recycled from the former Katherine Gibbs School on Plymouth St. in town.

Take it from me—I volunteer as an historic preservation commissioner elsewhere-the greenest building is a repurposed building.

Second, Paul Sionas, the Academy Square architect, used green renovation practices to attain LEED-- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design--certification from the United States Building Council for the architecturally adapted old structure.

Sionas' photographs of the renovation are among the works being shown by six well established artists in “Sustainability and the Artistic Vision,” an important exhibit curated and designed by area artist and arts educator Mona Brody. The show opens Fri. evening, Jan 21 in Studio Montclair’s first floor exhibit space. Upstairs in the Virginia S. Block Gallery, Block has brought in 18 thought provoking artists who address environmental mindfulness in “Rendering Green.”

Both shows promise to be blockbusters.

Mona Brody talked about the Sustainability Exhibit: “I’ve been altering my artist practices in terms of the environment,” Brody said. “All of these artists are exploring not just the practical side of environmentally sound practices, but also how sustainability has become part of the context of their work, their thinking.”

“Each of these extraordinary artists deals with the topic in unique ways,” Brody said. ”For example, Donna Moran--an amazing printmaker—has both been using non toxic print making materials and silk screening over old prints with beautiful results that explore life and decay.”

“Donna Usher makes her own brushes from sponges. Her non objective paintings are inspired by indigenous art, such as aboriginal dot paintings,” Brody said. “She is exploring basic circular forms in nature, from the microscopic to the cosmic."

Collage artist Peter Jacobs, sculptor Keely McCool and the multifaceted Marion Held are showing equally intriguing works. In late 2004, the multifaceted artist Marion Held was an invited participant to TDG4, an artistic exchange between three cities, Geneva, Dakar and Tambacounda in Senegal, where the project took place. Held, like many of the artists who convened there, used material found in the town.

“I am showing photographs taken while doing my project; several are of my pieces, some of other artist's work, and some of the town,” Held said. Held used discarded well water bags, themselves recycled from tire inner tubes, to create one of her exhibit sculptures, “From An Ancient Well.”

Upstairs, glass artist Lisa G. Westheimer, Held’s fellow faculty member at the Montclair Art Museum’s Yard School of Art, is bringing in a very different and a very beautiful sculptural form, “Flotsam Wave.”

“Flotsam wave is made from found elements, primarily a wire glass window scavenged from the building which now houses Luna Stage in West Orange,” Westheimer said. “Other elements include broken fragments of ambrotype photographic glass plate negatives, discarded color glass rods and bits of broken glass scavenged from the rubble of a Los Angeles furniture factory destroyed in a California wildfire in 2008. To add elegance, I also threw in some Murano glass beads from Venice, Italy.”

Another highlight is Elizabeth Smith Jacob’s “Mask with Spear,” made of rusted tools.

Montclair Arts Talk will take a closer look at these two exhibits some time after the opening. 

And, in all likelihood, never think about either a Jan van Eyck Madonna or trash in quite the same way.

Other artists to be viewed and interviewed are Catherine Meier Asher, Susanna Baker, Jane Dell, Alice Harrison, Susan Herman, Phyllis K Huggett, Mildred Kaye, Lissanne Lake, Susan Lisbin, Maria Lupo, Paula Marino, Clarence Mather, Roger Munch, Charles Palminteri, Jim Price, and Nancy-Jo Taiani. Artist Rachel Leibman directs the downstairs SMI Gallery.

For more information and images see www.studiomontclair.org. The two exhibits are on the first and second floor galleries at Academy Square 33 Plymouth Street, Montclair, NJ 07042 Opening reception Fri. Jan. 21 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Regular hours are Mon. to  Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment.