The Joy of Mixed Media at Hunter Gallery

As a dentist, Stanley Yeager is accustomed to using his hands to maneuver fine-precision instruments to custom-build smiles. As a sculptor, he uses the same set of skills to shape what moves him into works of art.

“From the Ashes,” a cast bronze sculpture of a crouching fireman, head in hands, does just that.

The moving tribute to the faces of 9/11 is part of his signature collection of fine art on display at Hunter Gallery in Mountain Lakes.

A step inside shows both work in progress and finished products. He also boasts a self-selected curated collection that runs the gamut across periods and mixed media. His latest piece is a nearly finished formation of a couple. “It’s about the dynamic,” he says. “You see one individual very happy and the other one almost indifferent to it all.”

But that’s just his perspective, as art is always open to interpretation.

“The goal of the artist is to present a tableau that causes a reaction,” he says.

His 9/11 collection is a result of his own reaction to the fragility of the human condition. Yeager was so moved that he submitted his design to the 9/11 Memorial, joining a pool of 5,200 proposals. While his work was eventually passed over, his sculpture found a temporary home on display at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.

In another example of funneling emotion into art, he sculpted a trio of soldiers, incorporating story-telling features depicting brothers-in-arms, a cross on a chain, and a man leaning on a cane. Sculpting provides him an outlet of sorts in which to process difficult emotions

A Step Inside the Gallery

A career dentist by day who calls Montville Township home, Yeager opened the gallery in September 2025. The two-room space with its built-in natural lighting resonated with him, as did the location next to Hapgood’s for its foot traffic.

In addition to his own art on display, the gallery contains mixed media that he’s acquired from auctions, artists, and shows.

“The whole point is to feature different periods,” he says.

It is an artistic time travel experience where paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries coexist with modern glassworks and sculptures. With Yeager as creator and curator, the gallery also serves as a universal portal into the world of art. For the seasoned collector, burgeoning artist, or simply the art curious, Yeager is happy to talk shop with visitors and impart a bit of his acquired wisdom.

As master crafter, Yeager is self-taught by craft and education, having pursued a degree in art history. Ever the collector, he rounds out his fine-arts resume with extensive travel and even a bit of music studies.

In a case of what came first, the art or the dental arts, Yeager found his creative calling in childhood, where he built model airplanes, drew, and, yes, even sculpted.

Yeager holds an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a doctorate in dental medicine from Fairleigh Dickinson University. While he followed his degree to the dental chair, he also followed his heart to the studio. He took up sculpting in 1995 and never looked back.

His collection of art even extends into the communal halls of the office building. He hopes that the foot traffic generated by Hapgood’s and other adjacent businesses prompts passersby to explore. In the near future, Yeager hopes to showcase local artists and even involve young artists at Mountain Lakes High School.

When he is not tending to teeth or chasing his next muse, he can be found spending time with family. His daughter, Lara Yeager-Crasselt, followed his lead and is the curator of early modern art at the Clark Museum in Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D in art history.

Hunter Gallery is located at 60 Midvale Rd. in Mountain Lakes. huntergallerynj.com.

Photographs by Antonietta Henry