Sharing the Fine Arts

What a great day it was at the “Out of the Woods” exhibit in Center City Galleries.  The Adult Training Centers of Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey came to the exhibit.  There were three clients and their leader Carmen who became the photographer.  When they first expressed an interest in coming to the gallery, I was excited to have an opportunity to use the fine art show as a community education tool.  As the economy falls, the support of art programs in and out of schools falls with it, which makes it really important that alternative avenues find ways to expose ALL people to fine arts.

As we discussed the assemblage and paintings at the show, I found myself grow in excitement.  The clients were seeing things that I had never thought of and it was a fun growing experience to look at my work through their eyes.  I asked them what they saw when looking at the assemblage; 

One said, “A Surprise!” and another said, “An earring!”  Then they added it would be elegant and not quite hit the shoulder – I could see it - and another said but if you think about it bigger, it could be a necklace.  So, many people in the past have said that my assemblage-no matter how big-has the feel of jewelry, and in this moment I could really see it.  Thank you, guys!  

                        Carmine Center City Galleries Head Honcho has Jokes!

I am smiling as I write this.  We also had a lot of fun, when we looked at Judith Peck’s woman,

We moved our bodies like snakes making sounds and laughing, and 

when we explored the painted door, “Guide” we animated the sounds of the drum.

After exploring the assemblage art the three created their own artwork.  Again, they amazed me, by being very clear on how they wanted their art to look.  

They were careful to look at their art from multiple sides and the finished pieces were definitely good enough to hang in a show. 

I so want to thank The Center City Galleries of Patterson for providing us with the space and the Adult Training Centers for Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey for coming to the “Out of the Woods” exhibit – it was great!