The 4 Benefits Of Appreciating The Fine Arts
Maria Rizzo’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the northeast of the United States and abroad. Rizzo is also the recipient of several awards and honors, in addition to the 2014 Individual Artist Commission from CNY Arts, she is the recipient of an Honorable Mention from the RSI Bank's 3rd Annual Artists Contest in Rahway, N.J., she is the former Artist-in-Residence and Curator at The Tech Garden in Syracuse, New York and she is a 2012 NYFA Mark Alumna.
What can the fine arts do for us?
- Fine Art Influences: great fine art has the power to positively lift our spirit and mood, so owing and displaying great fine art, not only can transform our home and office's ambiance, but can beneficially influence our circles of friends and clients.
- Fine Art Inspires: Appreciating great masterpieces where excellent techniques and harmonious compositions show us true examples of human ingenuity, can give us the right inspiration to accomplish our ambitious goals and dreams.
- Fine Art Relaxes: by really looking at a fine artwork we can deeply admire the artist's insights, vivid imagination and skills. Like the practice of meditation, really looking at artworks can helps us release stress. Visit your local art museum and try it for yourself.
- Fine Art Advocates Local Pride: owning art created and sold by local living artists means that you are supporting small businesses and your local community instead of the big corporations. Plus, visiting local art openings can be a great way to meet new people in your community and that's a win win situation!
Discover Local Treasures
Search for upcoming art fairs in the events' section of the newspaper. Browse the web and check out the websites of local artists, visit local artists' co-ops and art galleries and absorb all the local treasures in your community, you won't regret it!
~ FOR THE ONONDAGA COUNTY RESIDENTS ~
The 15th Annual Westcott Art Trail
Honoring Lauren Ritchie
Featuring over 60 area artists in 15+ locations.
This is a fund raiser for the Westcott Community Center
2015 Art Trail
Saturday, June 6 (10-5) and Sunday, June 7 (12-5pm)
About Westcott Art Trail
This art fair has grown to one of the finest arts & craft offerings in Syracuse. This year we are having 60+ artists, of extraordinary quality, in 15+ locations around the neighborhood. The locations include artists’ homes and studios that stretch from Meadowbrook to Berkley and from Broad to Avondale and beyond. Local artists work in a range of mediums, including ceramics, glass, jewelry, fibers, painting, and sculpture.
Many artists will be demonstrating their craft in mediums including silk painting, henna, watercolor, ceramic wheel throwing and firing, oil painting, origami, jewelry making techniques, and others.
The heart of the Art Trail, the Westcott Community Center (at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Westcott Street) will host many artists. In addition to the art, the Westcott Community Center will offer the East Side Farmer's Market, on Sunday, Onondaga Earth Core will be offering rain barrels at no charge, a Bake Sale to benefit our youth programs, a Saturday only Harp Performance, by harpists Mary O’Reilly and Ruth Thompson and much more.
Community Symbolic Tree
The second element of my art project was to serve as the artistic director of a Symbolic Tree painted by residents of our community that depicted the creative vision of Onondaga County. My goal was 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.
Each Saturday for six months starting in April, I set up the canvas in the participating libraries throughout Onondaga County (SEE BELOW FOR A LIST OF LIBRARIES, DATES AND TIMES) and invited its residents to sign up to participate in the painting process by contacting me via email.
My very last stop was at the Petit Branch Library at 105 Victoria Pl in Syracuse, NY on Saturday, November 1 from 11.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. and the last two Onondaga county residents putting their creative energies into the Symbolic Tree were artist and program manager at NorthSide UP, Stasya Erickson and nurse, Lynne Odell.
What's going to happen to this piece now?
I will add the final details to complete the painting.
The Symbolical Tree and the Onondaga County tree paintings will be shown together in an art exhibition at the Onondaga Free Library, 4840 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, New York 13215, and it will run from Saturday, March 14 to Tuesday, March 31. The opening reception will take place on Saturday, March 14th 2015, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m..
Many exiting things will happen during the opening reception. The eight winning contestants of the Best Onondaga County Tree Photo Challenge will receive the 1st limited edition print of the painting based on their photo, the community Symbolical Tree will be unveiled and donated to the library hosting this exhibition, and Tom Howards, a member of the Native Tree Society (NTS), will give a short presentation about our Onondaga county trees!
Save the date, I hope to see you there!
MARIA RIZZO
Trees, Lands & Dreams | Art Blogger #theartistspath | Art Educator | From Italy 🇮🇹🇺🇸 |