Mary McKee didn’t retire from the City of Tonawanda Library. She just painted away.
Her work “Refreshing,” featuring a portrait of elephants from the Buffalo Zoo in a natural setting, is one of many on display at the Partners in Art Gallery next to Hodge Podge and the Pallette Café on Webster Street in North Tonawanda.
The gallery recently hosted the opening of its annual student show. I wrote a little about it last week but then got distracted. I’m not much on highbrow culture — for me, art has to be something to which I relate, and yet this show is perfect. You don’t have to be a sophisticate to understand the beauty of Penny Creasey’s simple portrait of trees and a field in “Sunday Afternoon.”
If I could make it four times larger, it would fit beautifully over our couch. The same goes for the simple grace of W.P. Rozicki’s “Wild and Free” giraffes.
Meanwhile, while I wasn’t as crazy about the style of Joan Horn’s “Bulletin Board,” the message is poignant. The painting includes a Sports Illustrated cover featuring an American hero, Arthur Ashe. Ashe’s “Days of Grace” remains one of my favorite autobiographies.
He shared his story of being the first black tennis professional and then contracting HIV from a blood transfusion. To be graceful and forgiving in the aftermath of such adversity and persecution reveals true character, to paraphrase Marv Levy.
To see the vibrant arts community on Webster Street is meaningful. There will always be different qualities of work and talent. The important thing is that artists enjoy creating and the rest of us enjoy admiring. I don’t know how to define good art, but I know it when I see it.
It also always strikes me that so many talented people are around – you can admire Kay Learned and Creasey’s art in the café any day, not just during a show. They are nice women who have much more to offer than simply being the proprietors of a small gift shop.
I have to also compliment the bathroom. That’s right – Partners in Art down the street initially had the nicest bathroom in North Tonawanda, but the bathroom at the back of the new gallery is even nicer.
Of course, an article about that experience on Webster Street is not complete without a mention of the most faithful newspaper delivery guy ever, Vince Padalino. Vince lives at 84 Sweeney St., rides his bike to deliver the paper and is generally a downtown fixture. Characters like Vince add to the true texture of a neighborhood. Seeing him handing out a free copy of the Tonawanda News, I was compelled to tip him. Some things you just have to do, even as a noted cheapskate.
It will be even more exciting when some of the planned projects are done downtown. What I’d really like to see is a small, independent bookstore/café as a complement to the art scene and the Paperback Swap and Shop. That’s a story for another day. At least I completed that column I intended to write last week before I got distracted by the disaster in my neighborhood.
Thanks for reading.
Word of the Week: Nostrum – quack medicine. The origin comes from the Latin word meaning “of us.” It was the response the hawker used when asked to divulge the contents of the medicine he was hawking.
LM Boyd of the Week: Remember the winter of 1977? I do. It was the last time there was snow on the ground in all 48 contiguous states simultaneously.
Contact Joe Genco at joegenco@gmail.com.
Columns
Related Photos
GENCO: Local artists and their work worth appreciating
- Columns
-
-
HOPKINS: Big mistakes by Romney, Obama
Rick Santorum’s strong showing Tuesday in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado should come as no surprise.
-
DUVALL: Church shouldn’t be forced to offer birth control
In announcing that the federal government will require religious institutions to provide free access to birth control, President Obama touched off a heated debate about religious freedom — one he is likely to lose.
-
CONFER: Time to end the NFL’s blackout rule
Long ago, in a much simpler time, ticket sales accounted for the majority of revenues for professional football teams.
-
LEFFLER: Don’t wait to be productive
I’ve always been a bit of a night person. It started in college when I would stay up all hours of the night — doing homework. Or something.
-
DUVALL: Immigration, not economy, could tip 2012 election
In a handful of swing states that will decide the election, immigration will play a large — perhaps even determining — role in whether Barack Obama gets another four years.
-
TUCKER: Another side of the SPCA
With all the negative news about the SPCA of Niagara County, it seems a good time to weigh-in about the wonderful SPCA Serving Erie County.
-
ADAMCZYK: The return of The Slash
A recent column in this space about the myriad effects of personal technology (smartphones si, singing toothbrushes no) mentioned the curse of lifelong learning, that carousel of constant vocational training and retraining forced by a life on a globe spinning faster and flattening faster than society can cope, and that’s where the commentators keyed this in this week’s virtual mailbag.
-
Keppeler: Give me shelter
I hate the cold.
Most winter days in the Tonawanda News newsroom, I’m sitting here wearing my coat. (I’m doing it right now, as a matter of fact.) -
DUVALL: To the moon, Newt!
Normally I would jump at the chance to make fun of Newt Gingrich for saying something zany like how he plans to build American colonies on the moon.
-
CONFER: Federal spending derailed by Amtrak
We’ve been inundated with news reports about the fiscal woes of the U.S. Postal Service. Why is it that we never hear anything about another federal enterprise facing ongoing losses -- Amtrak?
- More Columns Headlines
-
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
White House Attacks Romney on Birth Control
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Mo. Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing Girl, 9
Lower-hassle Screening to Be Tested at Airports
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
