Thursday, October 1, 2026
Collages and mixed media pieces line the walls at the Sea Cliff Village Library in an exhibit by the village’s Scissor Wizards. The group, which was created less than a year ago, meets at the library monthly to create collages. Now, the work of 16 artists, and the program’s creator Kevin Long, is on display with the Sea Cliff Arts Council through September.
Long approached the library staff with the idea of starting a workshop last spring. At the end of last summer, it became a reality. He said Scissor Wizards was supposed to be a three-part program, but its success has kept it going. Artwork from participants ages 23 to 90 is featured in the exhibit.
“The participants are people within the area that gather together,” said Meaghan Travis, the arts council’s chief operating artist, “to create something new and create art.”
Long said that when he was asked if he would be interested in putting together an exhibit to display at the library, he said he would if the work of all Scissor Wizards members could be a part of it. Arts council leadership responded enthusiastically, he added.
The Scissor Wizards began meeting twice a month to get work ready for the exhibit. Program participants make collages from materials like magazines and construction paper. Long explained that he encourages artists not to focus on a set plan in order to avoid making collaging stressful.
“There is a little process that I present to people, and part of that process is not really having an outcome in mind or being attached to any particular outcome,” he said, “so that way you can just let things happen as you like make choices and decide to do things.” Long added that this has made the workshop a fun environment.
Travis emphasized that the exhibit’s story is community driven, bringing Sea Cliff artists, the arts council and the library together.
“I didn’t really know what to expect when we were putting this up,” she said, “and I realized it was really, really impressive.”
Long’s work was featured in a solo exhibit at the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center last year. He joked that he did “too good a job” putting his exhibit together and was therefore asked to hang work for other exhibits in the space. Long accepted and hung work for exhibits at the JCC for a year.
Only including one of his own pieces in the exhibit, Long said he wanted there to be more space for others’ work. He added that, in a way, laying out the exhibit was his own collage.
“What I do is I just kind of spread everything out, and then I just start arranging it on the wall,” Long said. “And it’s for me, it’s like I’m making a collage.”
