Erika Bleiberg

I discovered paints in kindergarten and my love for animals around the same time. A few years later, I started working with my journalist dad and also developed a passion for the media industry. My reverence for the work journalists do to speak truth to power in the name of democracy was cemented when I watched my father and his colleagues report on the Watergate hearings. That was a coming of age for me personally, politically and professionally.
Many years later, I painted a portrait of my latest rescue dog Cozy and it seemed to make everyone happy. I kept painting pets and it became a source of joy for me and the people I painted for. I gave them as gifts to friends and strangers alike. It was a creative expression and a generator of joy.
In 2015, during the U.S. presidential campaign, something shifted for me and the nation. We observed journalists being harassed, threatened and discredited. The media was presented as the enemy of the people by national leaders. I was horrified, especially since my son Jake had followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and had also become a journalist.
I noticed in my twitter feed (I follow thousands of journalists) that as things got more and more stressful and divisive in our country, journalists began posting more photos of their pets. I began to specifically focus on painting the beloved animal muses of journalists. I launched #journalismmatters because our democracy’s Fourth Estate deserves some kindness and support. I have painted hundreds of portraits as gifts to journalists, as a thank you for the important role they play.

What started with a 2015 portrait of Montclair resident and journalist Dale Russakoff’s trusty dog Junior (who is in the exhibit) and progressed to a 2019 painting of NPR National Correspondent Sarah McCammon’s dog Martin became an amazing journey of portraying hundreds of journalists' pets. I’ve done pet portraits for journalists across the country, including NYT’s Kim Barker, Susanne Craig and Shawna Richer, The Guardian’s Margaret Sullivan, AP’s Eric Tucker, Soledad O’Brien, NPR’s Giles Snyder, Washington Post's Tik Tok guy Dave Jorgensen and VoteBeat’s Jessica Huseman to name just a few. I’ve also done 50 or so for New Jersey’s press corps, many of whom I have personally worked with for years.

I ask for nothing in return and accept no money from journalists. The project is a random act of kindness -- just an expression of love in this complicated world.