The “Being Human” show at the Art Alliance through Aug. 7 in Red Bank includes (clockwise from top left) works by Marc Steiner, Jeff Clapp, Michael Reep and Emilienne.

What does it mean to be human? The response to that query is expressed in paint, pencil and clay, imprinted on film as well as disk, by six artists who share an exhibit space at the Art Alliance in Red Bank.

"We want to demonstrate through ‘Being Human’ that there’s an importance to getting to know people in your community and in other places in the world, to realize we all face the same things just in different places," said Red Bank artist Jeffrey Clapp.

"Culture is what helps makes us different, but it shouldn’t be what divides us. It should be what we celebrate in one another," said Clapp, a Red Bank resident, who enlisted five friends and fellow artists to explore the nature of what it is to be human through their art.

"Jeff collected us together," said documentary photographer Marc Steiner. "We’ve all exhibited individually. This is the first time we’ve collaborated."

In addition to Steiner, of Union Beach, Clapp brought together artists Michael Reep, mixed media, and sculptor Emilienne, both of Red Bank; Dimitrios Bastas of Atlantic Highlands, graphite drawings; and Dave Bergeland of Mendham, digital photography. The six addressed the subject in works ranging from watercolor to oil paintings, photography, pastels, sculpture and multimedia installations.

Their individual and collective statements on "Being Human" are at the Art Alliance, 33 Monmouth St., through Aug. 7. Exhibit hours are Wednesday and Thursday, 6-9 p.m.; Friday, 4-9 p.m.; Saturday, 1-9 p.m. and Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

According to Clapp, new media director for a Red Bank publishing company, the artists, some of whom are coworkers, met several times to discuss the parameters of the exhibit.

"We wanted to leave it open and loose so that we could explore what we wanted to say collectively," he said.

"I wanted everybody to come at the subject matter from a different point of view," he continued. "We wanted to create moods — some pleasant, some uncomfortable, some joyful. All the experiences you get as a human being."

Clapp said he envisioned the exhibit as a response to the events of Sept. 11.

"I felt that immediately after the tragedy everyone pulled together. A lot of heroes came out of nowhere. But people move on and tend to quickly forget lessons as they go forward."

The exhibit would be not only a personal expression by each artist of what it means to be human but would also embrace the diversity of the human family.

"I wanted to demonstrate the importance of getting to know people in your community, as well as other places in the world," he said. "Culture is what makes us different, but it shouldn’t be what divides us. It should be what we celebrate in one another."

Ultimately, he said, he believed the artworks would promote healing.

"The message is, this is a time for healing, for getting to know each other, for dropping what we think we know about ourselves and other people, and taking a chance," he commented.

Clapp’s works for the exhibit are vibrant watercolor portraits celebrating the diversity of humankind. His subjects, from a British bagpiper to a Zulu singer, meet the viewer eye to eye.

"I wanted people to be able to stare into the eyes of somebody they never met before," he explained, "to have an intimate moment with a stranger.

"I wanted to say, ‘When was the last time you walked out of your house and got to know your neighbor?"

Steiner, who defines his medium as photography/storytelling, drew on a body of work produced over the past five years that focuses on the common experiences shared by all people, including the poor in India and Africa, as well as American iron workers.

"I’ve been working with the common man and some common themes like people working," explained Steiner.

His studies include a photo of villagers mixing concrete for a temple being built, a leper at a hospital in India, a group of smiling children in Zimbabwe. A 1997 photo of graffiti scrawled on a brick wall — "What if the War Were Here?" — appears to presage the terrorist attacks, he pointed out.

"I saw how united we all were after 9/11," Steiner said. "It’s a shame it took this to bring us together, but I’m grateful we’re able to pull together as a society and for this show."

"This exhibit captures the essence of being human," Emilienne said. "You can’t look at anything in this gallery and not feel something. No matter who you are, where you’re from, what you do for a living, what’s common to all of us are these emotions."

Emilienne’s contributions to "Being Human" are whimsical porcelain and polymer clay portraits of everyday people as well as surreal egg-shaped figures with human visages.

The one-of-a-kind polymer sculptures are meticulously and lovingly costumed and represent, she noted, "ordinary people just being human."

For Clapp, the exhibit poses an important question: How can I be a person who can make a difference?

The answer resonates in each work displayed in the gallery.

"This show is about what it is to be alive, to be part of this community, this culture, this society," he said.

"This exhibit says, ‘Put aside your fears and your preconceived notions of what you think being human is all about and step outside yourself.’

"That’s really the challenge."