Brushstrokes of Connection: Montgomery Hosts Reception for New Lobby Art Exhibit

Nicholas Mistretta

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The municipal center lobby has a new heartbeat this fall: a sweep of contemporary abstracts by local artist Richa Rashmi, whose work blends meditative calm with raw, expressive energy. The township will celebrate the installation with an artist reception and talk on Monday, Oct. 13, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Montgomery Municipal Center (100 Community Dr., Skillman, NJ). Light refreshments will be served, and the public is warmly invited to attend alongside Mayor Neena Singh and members of the Township Committee.

The exhibition, which runs through the end of December, marks a seasonal transformation of the lobby space into a small gallery—one designed to meet visitors with color, texture, and a moment of reflection before they reach the clerk’s window or committee room. Rashmi’s paintings are rooted in emotion and guided by a reflective practice she describes as a spiritual exploration of life and self, an approach that favors honesty over ornament and invites viewers to supply their own meanings.

Born from a lifelong passion nurtured in childhood at her father’s encouragement, Rashmi committed to life as a full-time professional artist in 2017. Working primarily in acrylics and watercolor, she moves fluidly between abstract, contemporary, modern, and folk-inflected modes, often anchoring her canvases in the moods and memories of everyday life. Her portfolio has traveled well beyond central New Jersey, with solo and group exhibitions across the United States, Canada, and abroad, including the Indian Consulate in New York City, Alfa Art Gallery, One Art Space Gallery (NYC), and Novartis. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers and is held in private and corporate collections worldwide.

For Montgomery, the reception doubles as a community gathering—an early-evening chance to meet the artist, hear about process and influence, and mingle with neighbors. For Rashmi, it is another opportunity to turn a public space into a shared experience: color as conversation, gesture as invitation.

As autumn settles in, the lobby’s newest installation offers a timely prompt: to pause, look closely, and reconnect—with color, with neighbors, and with the everyday beauty that Rashmi’s canvases so intently chase.

To see more of her work visit richagallery.com

Photo Credit: Richa Rashmi