Seaside Heights & Seaside Park

Seaside Heights Bursts Onto Arts Scene With ‘Gallery 619’ In the Heart of Town

by
Daniel Nee
July 1, 2026

Gallery 619, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Gallery 619)

At Gallery 619, you never know what might be happening – and that’s exactly the point.

Named for its address on the Boulevard, Gallery 619 is one of the first, major efforts to breathe life into an arts community in Seaside Heights that has historically been overshadowed by the boardwalk and nightlife. While it was never uncommon to see photographers with telephoto lenses snapping shots of surfers, painters with their easels set up at beach entrances, or (in recent years) live theater on the boardwalk, the arts never quite had a defined home – until now.

“We started this whole thing almost three years ago,” said Adam Tormollan, director of the Seaside Heights Business Improvement District, describing the project he took on with Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz to take a vacant commercial space and turn it into something completely different for the town. “The idea was to bring all different types of audiences to the town that may not have have come there otherwise.”

Gallery 619 opened toward the end of last summer, but maintained events during the winter and has hit the ground running with exhibits, classes and performances planned for its first full summer. In mid-June, the gallery hosted an exhibit of coastal and surf photography to benefit the Surfrider Foundation, and in May it featured “Serenity and Shell Art,” displaying the amazing artistic crafts that could be made from seashells found along the shore. One exhibit even featured a “moss wall,” showing off art made from live plants.

Gallery 619, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Gallery 619)

“We spent over a year re-doing that building, and since we opened it last year, we have people who host yoga, theater, musicians, even a juggler,” said Tormollan. “Basically, anyone who wants to use the space has an opportunity to do so. They charge anything they like and donate back to keep it all going.”

The building, a modern concrete-and-glass style corner space at the Boulevard and Blaine Avenue, houses 10 studios on its second level that are rented out to artists who permanently uses the facility as a base for their work. Seven of them are currently occupied. Downstairs, the room can be configured for art exhibits, yoga classes, live theater performances, or musical acts. Recently, the borough council approved a measure that would grant the gallery a “theater license” to serve beer and wine at live events, giving it a bit of a Broadway touch.

Gallery 619, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Gallery 619)

The space has also been used as a “base,” of sorts, to support larger events. When the Rock the Heights festival brought bands to town recently, the downstairs portion of Gallery 619 was used as a VIP meeting area where fans could interact with artists, and artists could take a break from the action of performing elsewhere.

This summer, Gallery 619 will continue to host events as they are proposed and organized. A beginner juggling workshop is booked through July, and new events are added frequently to the gallery’s Facebook page.

“The goal has always to, basically, bring in as many different groups as humanly possible,” said Tormollan. “Even if half of those people were to have come here already, the other half wouldn’t, and we want them to see our town and stay.”