by Olivia Young<\/p>\n
Amalgamated Housing Cooperative is home to a community of artists. <\/p>\n
Inside Vladeck Hall April 19, the historic building\u2019s walls were adorned with work that spanned painting, drawing, photography and sculpture, made by 19 creatives with deep ties to the co-op. <\/p>\n
Those artists have honed their crafts within the co-op, taking advantage of its resources, such as studio space. Seventy-year-old Aaron Olshan, a mixed media artist and lifelong Amalgamated resident, was given a studio space in the development by the time he was 18. Photographer Ira Merritt, 75, also received a studio in the 1990s. Sketch artist and painter Lucy Degidon, 84, has taught children at a community art space in the co-op for the last dozen years. <\/p>\n
Olshan \u2014 whose father, Bernard Olshan, was also an artist at the co-op \u2014 credits this focus on the arts to Herman Liebman, former education director at Amalgamated for nearly 50 years. Liebman, also a violinist, believed kids in the co-op deserved the same creative opportunities as wealthier ones downtown, according to the Herman Liebman Memorial Fund. He coordinated art, music and dance classes, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Decades have passed since Liebman held the role, but his influence persists. Current education director, Ilyssa Gillman, said creativity still, and always has, been a part of Amalgamated. <\/p>\n
\u201cArt brings people together,\u201d Gillman said. \u201cIt tells stories. It reflects our experiences. It starts conversations. It just reminds us of the beauty and imagination that exists.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy Degidon, sketch artist and local teacher<\/p>\n
In the classes Degidon runs at Amalgamated for local kids, she focuses less on strict instruction and more on play, which she said children don\u2019t get enough of. They engage in painting, drawing and recently, puppet making. <\/p>\n
Before she retired, Degidon was a public school art teacher for 18 years, working with kindergarteners through 12th graders. She also graduated from the School of Visual Arts, and moved to Amalgamated in the early 2000s to stay with a cousin after she was diagnosed with cancer. Degidon got her own place in the neighborhood a few years later. <\/p>\n
Degidon has had a knack for drawing since she was a child, when she would make greeting cards for her family members. There was always a personal aspect, she said, and in her current drawings, that concept is still present. <\/p>\n
She primarily draws people and animals, and at the show exhibited three rough sketches of individuals sitting. Degidon aims to represent the personality of her subject. <\/p>\n
Degidon\u2019s son, 51-year-old Kevin Degidon, also had work on display. Lucy Degidon said he started to express an interest in art at 8 years old. One of his pieces, an acrylic painting called \u201cBeauty and Agony,\u201d shows a hand reaching toward a sunflower.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paula Nadelstern, kaleidoscope quiltmaker<\/p>\n
Quiltmaker Paula Nadelstern, 74, was born and raised in Amalgamated. As a teenager \u2014 during the \u201chippie years,\u201d in her words \u2014 Nadelstern became interested in crafts such as crochet and embroidery, but quiltmaking is what stuck.<\/p>\n
It started as a hobby. After her daughter was born, Nadelstern would work with other parents at the Amalgamated Nursery School to create a quilt where they each designed a square \u2014 sparking a longstanding tradition that is still active today. <\/p>\n
As Nadelstern advanced, she started traveling to educate others. She said she has taught on cruises in Japan, Abu Dhabi, Australia and New Zealand, among others, and did so for decades. She has also published several books. <\/p>\n
Nadelstern\u2019s signature creations are her kaleidoscope quilts. She creates the intricate designs as she goes, and one quilt can take a year or two to make, she said. For her, quilting is a form of meditation, and after 40 years she still works from the kitchen table in her two-bedroom apartment. <\/p>\n
Nadelstern asks viewers to look at her work up close \u2014 to notice the fabric, seams and stitches \u2014 but from far away too, to recognize the expertise. <\/p>\n
\u201cI see myself as an artist,\u201d Nadelstern said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not finished yet.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michelle Doyle, introspective watercolor painter<\/p>\n
Michelle Doyle, 33, works with watercolor painting. She is a lifelong cooperator, and started taking her art more seriously after she was accepted into a program in high school at the Museum of Modern Art. Later, she studied at Stony Brook University and The Art Students League of New York. <\/p>\n
One watercolor piece featured at the exhibit, \u201cDol-sot Bibimbap,\u201d features the Korean dish with rice, vegetables, egg and beef. It is part of Doyle\u2019s series called \u201cTable for One\u201d that focuses on meals as a subject matter, though with an introspective edge, she said. <\/p>\n
When Doyle paints, she listens to music to enter a headspace where she isn\u2019t overthinking. She said she feels art has always been encouraged in Amalgamated, noting the sculpture in the courtyard, \u201cMaternal Force,\u201d that was created by cooperator Hortense Kassoy. <\/p>\n
Doyle said she primarily uses watercolor, but sometimes used a machine called a Risograph, which works as a screenprinter. Another piece she exhibited was titled \u201cStrawberry Shortcake,\u201d which showed a bright, blue and red image of the dessert. <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maryann Drago-Dowling, ceramicist drawn to nature<\/p>\n
Maryann Drago-Dowling, 65, works with ceramics, and has lived in Amalgamated since she was 15. At the show, she exhibited a detailed sculpture of a hawk, inspired by her aim to bring greater attention to the natural world, and inspire appreciation of its wildlife. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a fascinating world out there,\u201d she said. \u201cBefore it disappears, I think it\u2019s important that we focus on nature and try to learn more about what we\u2019re destroying.\u201d <\/p>\n
Her love of nature stemmed from her grandmother, who would take Drago-Dowling to the New York Botanical Gardens as a child. Later in life, it was living close to Van Cortlandt Park that kept that love alight. <\/p>\n
Drago-Dowling\u2019s interest in art fluctuated as she was raising kids, but in the last five years, she has had more time to become immersed in her work, especially by participating in the\u00a0 Amalgamated Ceramics Club. <\/p>\n
For most of her career, she worked at Lehman College, where she found ways to incorporate creating flyers, brochures and other items related to graphic design. <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beanie Parrekes, illustrator moved by generations before<\/p>\n
The youngest of the exhibitors, 24-year-old Beanie Parrekes, creates by drawing. They are a student at Bronx Community College studying art, and have lived in Amalgamated for four years. <\/p>\n
At the show, Parrekes exhibited a pastel pencil piece of a pink and white lily. They said art is their therapy, and a moment for them to withdraw from the outside world and find something within themselves. Parrekes takes inspiration from the earth, but also from their ancestors. They said the DNA of everyone before them is within them, and they hold onto it while they draw. <\/p>\n
Being surrounded by more seasoned artists is a dynamic they appreciate. Parrekes introduces a fresh perspective, and the other artists bring a sense of maturity.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tAmalgamated Housing Cooperative,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Bronx art exhibit,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t community artists,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Vladeck Hall,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t resident artists,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t multigenerational art,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t local art show\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Olivia Young Amalgamated Housing Cooperative is home to a community of artists. Inside Vladeck Hall April 19,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[82233,128,82234,82235,82239,82238,9,24,63,82237,129,131,130,82236],"class_list":{"0":"post-207396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-amalgamated-housing-cooperative","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-bronx-art-exhibit","11":"tag-community-artists","12":"tag-local-art-show","13":"tag-multigenerational-art","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-resident-artists","18":"tag-the-bronx","19":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","20":"tag-the-bronx-news","21":"tag-vladeck-hall"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}