The Creation of the Community Symbolic Tree at the Solvay Public Library

I have received the Individual Artist Commission Grant from the CNY Arts 2014 Decentralization Program to engage Onondaga County residents in an interactive art project that promotes nature appreciation and community involvement in artistic creation.
 
One element of this art project is to serve as the artistic director of the Symbolic Tree painted by residents of our community that will depict the creative vision of Onondaga County.

For the creation of this community Symbolic Tree, each Saturday for five months starting in April, I will set up the canvas in the participating library throughout Onondaga County and will invite its residents to sign up via email to participate in the painting process.

Saturday, April 5, at the Solvay Public Library, was the very first day to bring this project to life and I had a terrific experience. After I've set the easel, the canvas and the art supplies in the community room, it was amazing to witness how Onondaga county residents made magic happen in front of my eyes.

 The very first person at work was Wendy Pitoniak, who focused on the lower part of the tree.

Pattie Hicks-fiegl was the second person painting and she focused on the faraway hills in the background, and this is her testimonials:

"This was a very unique experience for me. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of a 'bigger picture' so to speak. In spite of many years passing since I held a paintbrush in my hand Maria graciously encouraged me to put aside any hesitation I felt. It was gratifying to have my amateur paint strokes be as much a part of the whole foundation of the piece as the professional artists who participated. I consider children as professionals because we are all born artists and dancers but sometimes it's squelched along the way!
I look forward to watching many more individuals contribute to Maria's vision
until it is complete-a tree beautiful, strong and sheltering....as our community should be."
-Pattie Hicks-Fiegl

Artist, Suzanne Masters was the third person putting her time into this piece, and she did a fabulous job establishing the correct values of the sky.

 Mitzie Testani and her son helped a lot, too. They focused on adding a darker value in the foreground.

At the end of today's painting session, Teresa Gardner-Barndollar and her kids completed the underpainting of the foreground.

Today I've made one little exception on the age restriction of 16+ for a couple of reasons: it was the beginning stage of the painting and the kids were supervised by their mothers and it was great to see them working so well together.

But the more this painting develops, the more complex this painting will be to approach, and that is why I established the age restriction rule.
With this project my goal is to promote harmony and a feeling of identity and purpose among the members of our community, as well as to share the right techniques on how to successfully execute a painting. I make sure participants understand that their vision and application are essential for this project and that they are helping to create something meaningful, beautiful, and lasting.

If you are interested in participating in this project check out the previous blog post for the libraries dates and times and contact me to save your spot via email at mariarizzoart@gmail.com.

Thank you for checking in and I'm looking forward to my next painting session at the Liverpool Public Library on Sunday, April 13 from 1.30 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.


Best,

Maria Rizzo