Senior Citizens Art Show Cooks Up More Talent Than Ever Before

Gray hairs and golden years can sometimes be the perfect recipe to create an artist. Retirees often have the time and fascination to commit to a passion that was lost to their youth.

That passion and talent was never more evident than at the
2011 Essex County Senior Citizens Juried Art Show in Cedar Grove, where Essex County Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., awarded top prizes to 34 out of the 124 entrants.

After a warm welcome and thanks, DiVencenzo (who noted, in his speech, that Angelo Casarola’s painting, “The Catch” chronicled last year’s winning Superbowl play,) went on to hand out first place, second place and Honorable Mentions to the contestants.

Kate Hartwyk, Director of Programs and Grants for the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, played a major role in organizing the event, for the second year, at the Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove.

“A lot of folks come to art and practice in their medium,
after they’ve retired from another profession. So, they don’t have the
opportunities for recognition that a younger person starting out in the art field has. It’s a great way to recognize the talent that really exists in the senior community and it also brings attention to how seniors in our community are still active and engaged in lots of different areas,” she said.

Jill Jackson of Englewood who won First Place on her first time entering, said, “I’ve seen how talented people can be and the fact that there’s a venue where it can be displayed and appreciated is just the way it should be.”

Lawrence Agron of Livingston, who won second place for hisphotograph “Lisbon Street Musician”, commended the event’s organizers, as well.

“It gives people a lot of opportunity to express themselves,” he said, although he regrets that more seniors do not take the opportunity to participate.

Hartwyk also mentioned the benefit of having the show at the Essex County Hospital Center.

“And the other nice thing is that now that we’re at the hospital center we’re presenting the art in a new venue. So, visitors who are here as patients or staff members are getting some exposure to arts and culture that they don’t have necessarily on a daily basis.”

The exhibit will be on display until Sept. 15 in the lobby of the Essex County Hospital Center, 204 Grove Ave., in Cedar Grove, where it can be viewed Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-7 p.m.

After the awards ceremony, Angel Wang of Livingston, explained
how she picked the pieces she entered. She actually took her painting “Geisha Girls” off her wall when she realized she could do better. Wang, who won first place with the painting, said, “That’s the beauty of oil painting. It’s always in progress. It’s never a finished product.”

Artists, and the awards they received, are as follows:

Caldwell

• Robert Kaplan won first place in the non-professional photography category for “Pittsburgh Reflection.”

Cedar Grove

• Jane Ballinger won second place in the non-professional watercolor category for “Melon & Grapes Still Life.”
• Angelo Casarola won second place in the non-professional oil category for “The Catch.”
• Barbara Marin received an honorable mention in the professional watercolor category for “Summer’s Beauty.”

East Orange

• Rudy Martin won first place in the professional oil category for “Little Sidewalk Artist.”

Essex Fells

• Marion Franks won first place in the non-professional watercolor category for “Columbine.”

Livingston

• Laurence Agron won second place in the professional photography category for “Lisbon Street Musician.”
• Elaine Denton won first place in the non-professional pastel category for “Portsmouth, NH – Low Tide.”
• Harriet Hiller won second place in the professional drawing category for “Caring.”
• Malini Parekh won second place in the non-professional photography category for “A Careful Descent!”
• Angela Wang won first place in the non-professional oil category for “Geisha Girls.”
• Sheila Writt received an honorable mention in the non-professional pastel category for “Canal in Venice.”

Maplewood

• Jill Jackson won first place in the non-professional mixed media category for “Striped Sunset.”

Montclair

• Horst Hoyer won first place in the non-professional computer imagery category for “Earth Rise.”
• Joan Schessler won second place in the non-professional pastel category for “The Wave.”
• Monroe Tenner won second place in the non-professional sculpture category for “Artist’s Box.”

Newark

• Maggie Brown received an honorable mention in the non-professional sculpture category for “Jay.”
• Thomas Alonzo Kennerly won first place in the non-professional sculpture category for “Bamboo.”
• Arthur Nist won second place in the professional oil category for “Music in the Park.”

North Caldwell

• Carmel Bongiovanni won first place in the professional mixed media category for “Vertical Oval #1.”
• Juan Guerra won second place in the non-professional mixed media category for “Secluded.”
• Phyllis Huggett won second place in the professional mixed media category for “Impossible Comparisons” and second place in the professional watercolor category for “White Pitcher with Flowers.”
• Colonel Ben Squires won first place in the non-professional craft category for “Earrings.”

Short Hills

• Wen-hsien Wu won first place in the non-professional acrylic category for “Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

South Orange

• Vicki Bloye Gainsburg won first place in the professional watercolor category for “Beauty Abandoned.”
• Edward Hoffner won second place in the non-professional acrylic category for “Trumpeter.”
• Sheila Sugarman won first place in the professional pastel category for “The Cliff of Etretat.”

Verona

• Harriet Hiller received an honorable mention in the non-professional oil category for “Roman Street Scene.”
• Catherine Luzzi won first place in the professional acrylic category for “The Arbor.”
• Dennis Murray won first place in the non-professional print category for “Dog on Pillow.”
• Joyce Orsock-Schmitz won first place in the non-professional drawing category for “Grace.”
• Bill Wood won first place in the professional print category for “Mallard.”

West Caldwell

• Allie Holloway received an honorable mention in the non-professional watercolor category for “The Look.”

West Orange

• Louis Giordano won first place in the professional drawing category for “The Window” and received an honorable mention in the professional mixed media category for “That Look!”
• Evelyn Giventer won first place in the professional craft category for “Ballroom Dancers” and won second place in the professional acrylic category for “Carousel Memories.”
• Howard Knauer received an honorable mention in the non-professional photography category for “Egret with Nesting Material.”
• Richard Koch won first place in the professional photography category for “Wild Alaska.”