Long Beach Island Art Gallery partners wth Wedding Road Show

Jan. 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Local artist and business owner Matt Burton has partnered with the Long Beach Island Region Destination Marketing Organization to introduce his art form to new audiences coming to the area for one of New Jersey’s most talked about wedding events, The Wedding Road Show. Burton has assembled what he believes is the first exhibit of Wedding Cake Toppers by clay artists which will make its debut the evening before the Wedding Road Show at an April 9 reception held at the m.t burton gallery in Surf City. Burton is a graduate from Roanoke College and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Fine Art major with a concentration in ceramics, painting and art history and alsoreceived his Masters of Arts degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in.  He  began teaching drawing and design at Ocean County College in Toms River and in 2000 opened the m.t burton gallery & 19th Street Clay Studio in Surf City. The gallery features fine art, pottery and antiques, plus a sculpture garden. The New Jersey fine arts gallery is the host site for the annual juried competition, the Jersey Shore Clay National with the 19th Street Clay studio providing visiting artist workshops, classes and residencies.

Both Matt  and the Long Beach Island DMO is very excited about this exhibit, which now involves thirty artists nationwide contributing their cake toppers to the exhibit that will run through May 16, 2011.  Each piece will be for sale and will reflect a very personal style and design.  The Wedding Road Show has increased demand for LBI Region wedding services in the traditional sense; such as florists, tuxedo rentals, bakeries and venues. It is the hopes of the all involved in this project that it will create similar demand for art and introduce a new tradition of gift giving with an emphasis for hand made works of art.

Creativity and the art of bringing new business across the threshold is what the Wedding Road Show is all about. This event was developed by the Long Beach Island Region DMO to spotlight  the area’s blossoming destination wedding industry by showcasing local venues and wedding professionals. Drawing brides from across the country to participate in the dozen open houses that take place throughout the region , this free event also offers  a chance to win a wedding reception grand prize valued at over $15000 featuring catering, flowers, photography, video, favors, invitations, wedding cake, reception site and wedding night accommodation. With pre and post contests, videos and ongoing promotion year round, the success of what was planned to be a one time event has lead to it’s third year. Sponsored by wedding industry powerhouses such as The Knot, New Jersey Bride, WedAlert.com, NJWedding.com, Brides.com, radio station Magic 100.1 fm and New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism; The Wedding Road Show has recently been nominated to receive a New Jersey Governor Award for Tourism Excellence.

The Saturday, April  9 Top That Contemporary Wedding Cake Topper Reception promises to taste as good as it looks,  with each topper being displayed on  a custom decorated cake tier and treated to other catered delicacies . During the Wedding Road Show on  Sunday, April  10 , look for the m.t. burton gallery to be promoting Top That and the sale of the toppers at the Surf City Yacht Club. After the festivities the exhibit will continue through May 19 at the m.t burton gallery 1819 Long Beach Blvd, Surf City. For more information contact the m.t burton gallery at 609 494-0006 or mtburtongallery.com. To find out more about the Wedding Road Show contact the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce at 609 494 7211 or go to visitLBIregion.com.

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