The Montclair Art Museum, located at 3 S Mountain Avenue, recently announced that it’s getting a new addition. A brand new cafe, called the Cornerstone Cafe, has officially opened inside the museum on November 4th. This addition, which came to be through a partnership with Cornerstone Montclair, is part of a new expanded program called “Fridays at MAM” — and it has a meaningful mission. Cornerstone Café is being run by members of both the Montclair High School Transition program along with Jewish Vocational Service of Metrowest, and the initiative aims to have a positive impact on everyone visiting the museum. Open only on Fridays, the cafe serves coffee from Java Love Roasting Co along with other drinks + snacks. Plus, the new Friday programs also include remote workspaces, art workshops, and more. Read on to learn more about what to expect from this new cafe — along with other programs that will be part of Fridays at MAM.
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About Cornerstone Cafe
Cornerstone Café, which has now opened inside the Montclair Art Museum as of Friday, November 4th, is the product of a partnership between the Museum and Cornerstone Montclair.
Cornerstone Montclair is a local business that works “to change perspectives about people with disabilities and create
opportunities for people of all abilities to have meaningful work and be active participants” in their community, per a press release.
In order to promote inclusion and celebrate the ability of art to bring everyone together, Cornerstone Café will be staffed by members of the Montclair High School Transition program as well as the Jewish Vocational Service of Metrowest. It will sell coffee — courtesy of Java Love Roasting Co — as well as pastries and other snacks. The cafe will be open only on Fridays from 10AM to 4PM and will be open to museum visitors and members (who, by the way, get a 10% discount).
What’s more, Cornerstone Cafe will also have a lounge area for visitors to sip coffee — and there will even be a library of art books available for guests to browse.
Other Fridays at MAM Programs
In addition to the new cafe, the Museum will offer other programs through the Fridays at MAM initiative — which will include a host of fun programs and happenings.
“This new weekly program will include remote workspace, sketching in the galleries, and scavenger hunts for families and groups,” the press release reads.
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In other words, MAM members and visitors can brings laptops and other work materials to the Museum’s Media Lab from 10AM to 6PM where they’ll find free WiFi. This means you can take a work break to browse the galleries or grab a bite at the new cafe.
Additionally, there will also be sketching in the galleries with art materials provided by the Museum. This will be open from 2PM to 6PM. There will also be a self-guided, family-friendly scavenger hunt, which will be offered from 10AM to 6PM on Fridays. All of these programs are available for drop-ins and don’t require any registration.
About the Montclair Art Museum
Many people don’t know about the rich slice of history and culture that sits nestled right in their own suburban backyard, something quite rare for a museum. Montclair Art Museum opened its doors in 1914, making it the first museum to focus primarily on collecting American and Native American art in the country, beginning with donated pieces from prominent residents of Montclair William T. Evans and Florence Rand Lang.
Montclair Art Museum’s art education program was established ten years later in 1924 with the Yard School of Art, the art education program that still exists today after merging with the Montclair Art Museum in 1999. While classes were limited when the museum first opened, today you can find classes in a wide array of artistic mediums including ceramics, mixed media, painting, digital media, and more.
(Photo credit: @mammontclair)
Many Montclair residents are familiar with the Van Vleck House + Gardens but what they may not know is that Howard Van Vleck himself, a local horticulturist, developed the grounds of the museum into a beautiful arboretum in the 1940s.
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Today, upon visiting the museum, you can expect to find over 12,000 works of art and countless exhibitions. The museum has future plans to expand its grounds to include an outdoor plaza with a water wall and reflecting pond, a serene area to be enjoyed by all visitors.
Visitors are required to have a ticket for entry, which can be purchased online or at the entry desk.
