Penn South creativity wows at annual show
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
More than 50 residents of the
Penn South Co-operative had
their artwork displayed at
the Penn South Social Services’ third
annual multimedia art exhibition last
weekend.
Dozens of paintings, drawings,
sculptures and photographs lined the
walls of the residential co-op complex’s
community room on June 8 and 9. The
exhibition was open and free to the
public. The artists were diverse in age
and experience.
“Each year it gets better and better,”
said Bridget Oteri-Robinson, a Penn
South board member and an organizer
of the exhibition, of the artwork displayed.
“It’s fascinating the amount of
talent we have here.”
Throughout its 57-year-old history,
the Penn South Co-op has been a model
housing community. In the 1970s, the
co-op created the Penn South Energy
Conservation Plan to deal with the rising
cost of energy in the city. According
to Penn South’s Web site, in 1976,
the co-op began to prepay some real
estate taxes to help the city during the
fi nancial crisis. And in 1986, the co-op
created Penn South Social Services to
improve the quality of life of co-op residents,
in particular, its older population
who were aging in place.
The multimedia art exhibition is another
example of how the co-operative
is responding to residents’ needs and
working to enrich the Chelsea community.
According to Oteri-Robinson, the
art exhibition started after a co-op resident
approached the P.S.S.S. two years
ago with the idea of starting a sketching
group.
“We said this is a fantastic idea,” she
recalled.
At the same time Oteri-Robinson
and other P.S.S.S. members were approached
about the sketching group,
they were also working on a fundraiser,
which they decided to turn into an art
exhibit.
Originally, the art exhibition solely
featured work from members of the art
groups within the co-op, its senior center
and the ceramics studio. But now it
is open to anyone within Penn South.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Artist and Penn South resident Evy Williams in front of her painting
“Spiritual Journeys.”
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
“A Vast Expanse,” by Joseph Meloy.
Labyrinth Dance Theater presents
Conceived, Choreographed and Directed by Sasha Spielvogel
Celebrating and Honoring Thirty Years of Love, Loss and Hope; Gay Life in NYC 1965-1995
Come Back
Once More
So I Can Say
Goodbye
Benefi tting GMHC
Ali Forney Center
Live Out Loud and
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Honorary Host Committee:
John Cameron Mitchell
Terrence McNally
and Tree of Stonewall
Special Thanks to:
June 14th–17th, 2019
The Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater
405 West 55th Street, NYC
(at the Corner of 55th St. & 9th Ave.)
LabyrinthDanceTheater.org
Schneps Media TVG June 13, 2019 21
/LabyrinthDanceTheater.org