Good Day Moon Gallery Opens on Cranford Avenue

Ken Tomaro doesn’t expect to make his fortune by running a small art gallery.

It’s more like he’s following his dream, and fulfilling his passion for art.

Tomaro recently opened the Good Day Moon Gallery at 1388 Cranford Avenue.

The gallery opened last Monday with little fanfare, but a grand opening event is in the works.

Good Day Moon offers a variety of art — think acrylic paintings, pottery and photography.

“It’s a different concept than most galleries,” Tomaro said. “The artists will keep 100 percent of the sales.”

Artists displaying their work will pay a membership fee, rather than the gallery taking a cut from the sales.

“It’s an art gallery — it’s not like Walmart where people are coming in and spending a lot of money,” he added. “This is a business that we don’t always get a lot of foot traffic — you might have 20 people come in, and might not have anyone come in.”

Tomaro said he needs eight artists to pay for the rent and utilities, and added that he’s covered for the year. But he’s still looking for artists interested in selling their work.

The story behind the name of the Good Day Moon Gallery is personal.

“The original idea was to open this gallery as a way to help people with mental illness,” said Tomaro. 

“I realize there are a lot of people dealing with a lot of bad stuff,” he added. “So the idea behind the classes is for people to come in for a couple hours to create something and the hope is that even with all the bad stuff they can have at least one good day. The moon is a symbol of light down a dark path.”

Tomaro said he’s planning some larger upcoming events “to get our name out and get the public involved.”

Those plans include a show that will involve showing and selling the work of high school students.

“I think it's important to showcase them because they are the future artists of the world and they're the one who are going to make it nicer to look at,” Tomaro said, adding that the plans are “down the road.” 

Expect classes — open to the public — soon.

“If there are any artists who like to get involved by volunteering to teach a class, or even if they can just donate art supplies for future classes, that would be great,” Tomaro said.