Winners of the Best Onondaga County Tree Photo Challenge

Last year, I received the Individual Artist Commission Grant from the CNY Arts 2014 Decentralization Program to engage Onondaga County residents in an interactive art project that promoted nature appreciation and community involvement in artistic creation.

In the first part of the art project, my goal was to emotionally engage the community by asking Onondaga County residents to go into nature, find the most beautiful trees in our county, and send their suggestions to me with a photo. I selected eight trees from those sent to me, and I used them as reference in the creation of eight acrylic paintings on canvas.

So, without further ado, the recipient of the eight winning photos are:

Ray Trudell with Magnolia trees from Syracuse, NY;

Bryan Hills with an unknown tree from Oren, NY;

Deborah Goemans with a Magnolia tree from Tully, NY;

Dan Elsbey with a Dark Cherry tree from Camillus, NY;

Steven Marrone with a Willow tree from Syracuse, NY;

Tom Howard with an Old Sugar Maple tree from Liverpool, NY;

Mary Mollica with a Maple tree from Dewitt, NY;

and Ellen Leahy with a Gingko tree from Skaneateles, NY.

Ray Trudell with Magnolia trees from Syracuse, NY

Bryan Hills with an unknown tree from Oren, NY

Deborah Goemans with a Magnolia tree from Tully, NY

Dan Elsbey with a Dark Cherry tree from Camillus, NY

Steven Marrone with a Willow tree from Syracuse, NY

Tom Howard with an Old Sugar Maple tree from Liverpool, NY

Ellen Leahy with a Gingko tree from Skaneateles, NY

Mary Mollica with a Maple tree from Dewitt, NY

The submission’s deadline was October 31, 2014. I used different traditional media and social media platforms to promote this interactive project, such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mail blasts.

In the next blog post I will talk about the second element of my interactive art project and then, each week,  I will start writing about the eight winners of the Best Onondaga County Tree Photo Challenge. I will share who they are, what they do and why they were compelled to photograph these particular trees. Along with the winners' story, I will share the artistic journey of each painting that was based on their photos.

Happy New Year

2014 has been a challenging year for the Rizzo/Wagner family: my husband, Dan, the breadwinner of our family, while cleaning storm damage on July 20th, fell form a ladder 15 ft. above the ground that broke his sacrum, fractured his left pelvis and broke his right calcanium.

As difficult as it has been, we were also able to witness many blessings: Dan, due to his injuries to the sacrum, had the pudendal nerve unresponsive and the doctors did not know if he was ever able to gain that nerve again. A month after the surgery the nerve slowly started working again and that, for us, was more than just a little miracle. Additionally, Dan, a long time smoker, decided to finally give up cigarettes for good to let his body heal faster and, now, after 5 months from the accident, he is back to walking, driving and looking forward to goin back to work.

Another big blessing is our family.  You know how much your family loves you when, during difficult times, they'll do everything to make your life easier... And we are so lucky and forever grateful to our families for contributing in making our life manageable thanks to the continuous financial and emotional support they have been giving us and we are appreciative to all our friends for showing their support weather it was a gift, a card, a call or a visit.

Personally, I want to thank all of you for being a wonderful support for my small business and, as we move closer to the new year, I wish you a 2015 of health, love and happiness!

Yours truly,

Maria Rizzo

Dan at the 2N Rehab at University Hospital with Vincent and Franco.

“What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other.”

— George Eliot