MRGA Art Reception

The Manasquan River Group of artists was formed in 1938. Mrs. Ida Wells Stroud, a prominent artist and teacher in the School of Fine Arts in Newark at that time, resided each summer in Herbertsville with her daughter, Clara, also an accomplished painter. Ida held outdoor painting classes on the banks of the Manasquan River. To support American Art Week, the first week in November, the Strouds put together a small group of artist friends and students, to hold an art event in the town of Manasquan. Clara’s own notes describe it best: “Merchants on both sides of Main St. were signed up for paintings for their store windows. We decided to have a window walk and talk. When the appointed day came, we started off from the Woman’s Club down one side of the street and up the other – a crowd of us with friends and automobiles following…