Jacqueline
Amonitti with her grandson Cosmo Arzeno, 7, in front of her painting
called "Cosmos Dream" at SPARC (Seniors Partnering with Artists
Citywide) Art Show at the JASA Van Cortlandt Senior Center.
|
Holding
her grandson close, Jacqueline Amonitti stood before a colorful drawing
of a carousel horse on display at the JASA Van Cortlandt senior center.
"I call it 'Cosmo's Dream,'" she said, then looked at 7-year old Cosmo Arzeno. "It's his when the show is over."
The
informal exhibit, which features drawings, paintings and collages of 23
artists, is the culmination of art classes at the senior center on
Sedgwick Ave. run by the Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA).
Artist
Michael Ferris Jr. worked with the seniors for five months as part of
the city's SPARC (Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide) program
which pairs artists with senior centers.
Ferris encouraged his students to delve into their memories to create self portraits, landscapes and other imagery.
"As
time went on, they became a lot freer and weren't so intimidated by the
process of making art," he said. "As a result, there was a lot of
creativity kicking in at the end."
Amparo
Charneco's colorful drawing of two ballerinas took her back to her days
studying fashion illustration as a student at the Fashion Institute of
Technology in Manhattan.
"This
refreshed me," said Charneco, 73. "I haven't drawn anything in more
than 35 years. This got me to be more active again and I really enjoyed
it."
Amonitti,
65, who described the classes as "therapeutic," enjoyed them so much
she plans to return for more sessions in the fall.
"It was great," she said. "It's a type of expression and that brings out stuff you didn't even know was there."
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