On a bitingly cold December morning, with sun shining through the two-story windows of the old bank on Broadway, the warmth radiated from the walls of the Long Branch Arts and Cultural Center in the form of winter scenes created by local kids from pre-K through elementary school. There were snowmen, Santas, evergreens and more.
“It looks like a refrigerator,” Maggie Fischer said, perfectly describing the room dotted with artwork from children of all ages, and from all corners of the city. “It’s adorable.”
“Even if it’s scribbles from a 4-year-old, that still looks interesting to me. I like that.”
Fischer exudes an infectious enthusiasm for the art on the walls that she is tasked with adorning. There is genuine appreciation in her voice when she speaks of the collections inside 577 Broadway, where, as the city’s arts director, she discovers, amplifies and celebrates art from amateurs and professionals alike.
“I think the mayor, John Pallone, and everyone in administration in the city has a passion for the arts and wants to see arts flourish here,” Fischer said when describing the mission she is a part of. “Our neighbors have established art scenes already and people go there for art shows and music events. Long Branch does have that, but we want to have more of it. To be a destination where art lovers come, that’s the goal.”
Achieving that goal is a labor of love, so to speak, for Fischer. An Oakhurst native, she studied fine art at Marymount Manhattan. Following a one-year post-grad detour to Columbus, Ohio – she helped develop school arts programs for AmericaCorps while she was there – Fischer returned home. “You know, when you grow up here, it’s hard to leave here,” she said of the Jersey Shore, which is where she worked on her own art, and taught art classes, before ultimately landing the role as the city’s arts director in 2024.
Since she stepped into the role, Fischer has had the opportunity to develop an identity for the arts center while also ideating collections and putting a call for artists who are up to the challenge of creating work based off a pitch from Fischer; ‘Upcycled’ featured works created out of cardboard and other used materials. There’s also a push for awareness; the center is open Monday-Friday from 8:30-4:30 p.m., but it does occasionally open its doors for weeknight shows and exhibits.
“People will walk in sometimes and say ‘Oh, I’ve never been here before, I just wanted to stop in.’ That’s the goal, for people to come in and hang out,” Fischer said. “Bring their sketchbook. We have sketchbook mornings every Tuesday, from 10 to 11 a.m., and that’s just kind of an open art hour. That has become a really nice group of people. They all became friends. They bring their own projects and hang out for an hour or two. It’s nice, I’d like to do more things like that, where it’s a community space where people can come and go casually on top of the stuff that we normally have.”
The next step for Fischer with the center will be to expand its reach. Exhibits and shows – which can range from art installations to lectures and musical performances – will be staples at the center itself, but having a presence outside of its current four walls is a goal for her.
“Ideally this would be the space where all of the exhibits happen. This would be the central place where you would know ‘Ok, this month, this exhibit is happening, let’s go’,” Fischer said. From there, pop-up galleries. Whether that’s a local business, or an outdoor space. A temporary exhibit (maybe in storefront windows) something to create a buzz.”
“I kind of want to push the envelope of taking it to the next level. It makes you think differently, that’s the purpose of art."
She has some ideas, but is still in the planning stages of how to get to that point. So for now, it’s planning out exhibits and returning to some of her own work; Fischer, a mom to 8-year old Aiden Brown, recently started painting again, and finds herself more inspired now than she has in years.
Working with artists like Roddy Wildeman, Carla Valentino, Lisa Bagwell, Jason Stumpf and, of course, the next generation of creators, will do that for a person.
“We want to get them in here, and those kids will know, ‘Oh, I’ve been to the arts center before.’ And they’ll tell their mom, ‘There’s an event there; I want to go see that.’ And they’ll grow up with an art and cultural experience,” Fischer said. “And I feel like that is the best part of this show. That kids will know this space now. They know that they had artwork in it. So when they come back and see an exhibit, they’ll think ‘Oh, my art was in here, too. I can be in this world, too’.”
Right there on a refrigerator that everyone sees.
Maggie Fischer has been the city's arts director since January of 2024. Fischer earned her degree from Marymount Manhattan College, where she studied fine art. Her own work explores texture, movement, shape, and the cycle of natural decay and renewal, mainly through abstract textured paintings. You can stay on top of the happenings at the arts center by following them on Instagram @longbranchartscenter
"Our neighbors have established art scenes already and people go there for art shows and music events. Long Branch does have that, but we want to have more of it."
“I kind of want to push the envelope of taking it to the next level."