Artsy Chartsy – Making Space for Art
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While we may all appreciate art in its various forms, we may not always have easy access to it. This can be especially true for residents of a retirement or assisted-living home, such as Mayo Clinic’s Charter House. With that in mind, the good folks at Charter House came up with an idea to open up space to make art accessible for its residents and the community at large, and to give local artists another place to show their work.
Enter the Parkside Gallery Art Exhibit. Once each quarter, a space on the main floor of Charter House will be transformed to create a true art-gallery vibe. And local artists will show of their work, interact with the crowd and, we assume, make an impression. The first show is Thursday, Jan. 8, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will feature artists Philip Taylor and Bobby Marines. It’s free and open to all.
Taylor is a Rochester-based artist and Mayo Clinic employee who describes his art as “abstract paintings for the creative intellect.” In his artist’s statement, Taylor says, “Chance, spontaneity, lyrical and rebellious are qualities in my work.” And he says for him, the process of making art is “emotionally charged and spiritual.” Marines says his “diversity in medium and subject matter vary as much as his interpretation of life does.” In an interview on Local Artist Interviews, he says he started out using discarded canvases and household paints to make “horrible stuff that nobody wanted to see.” He’s come a long way since then and now boasts clients such as Starbucks, the Rochester Youth Commission, Rochester Art Center, and our very own Destination Medical Center.
Ruth Weispfenning, director of Resident Services at Charter House, tells us she hopes that through the exhibits, “residents will get to view various types of art that we wouldn’t normally hang in our public areas.” She points out the connection between art and “cognitive health,” noting that research shows people with “significant cognitive impairment can benefit greatly" from viewing and creating art. “We see this project as being good for our cognitive health,” she says.
Oh, and did we mention they’re serving refreshments during the exhibit, that the artists will be there, and that there will be music? And that it’s free?
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