Aired Monday, January 23rd at 7pm on WVIA TV
The spark of creativity can happen at any age; for some artists, their best work occurs when they are older. Keystone Edition: Arts will ask what changes for artists as they age, what benefits come from being creative while growing older, and more.
Watch the Episode
Extended Interview - Aftershow
Resources
- Arts for Life
- The Academy for Creative Aging
- PA Council on the Arts
- WVIA News - Art program for seniors
- ArtScene interview: Mary Lapos
- ArtScene interview: Dr. Catherine Richmond-Cullen
- Musée International D'Art Naïf De Magog (MIANM)
- MoMA’s The Long Run
- The Geezer Gallery
Panelists
Juan H. Espino captures a “Slice of life” in rural America with its present-day charm. His paintings noticeably capture a longing to return to the honest simplicity of childhood - streets, landscapes, festivities and especially people - colors of the four seasons in which he paints. Beauty, composition and architecture are always the basic background, emphasizing strongly the naivety of his people and giving the general illusion of innocence.
He has resided in Wayne County, Pennsylvania since 1988 after relocating from his native country. Impacted by the beauty of the countryside as well as the historic buildings and homes he began to capture this beauty on canvas. Juan’s love of art and history are inextricably intertwined in his life and in his art.
Juan is a tireless community activist. In his native state of Michoacan, Mexico, he founded several cultural organizations dedicated to promoting Mexican traditions, dance, music and folk art. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Director of several tourist and cultural events.
In Northeast Pennsylvania, Juan founded the Lake Region Art League, an organization of local artists that for many years had exhibits to benefit several community organizations. Other community programs and activities: Creator of the program “Promote culture through the Chamber of Commerce and Promote the Chamber of Commerce through culture” with seven months of different art exhibits, concerts and theater at the Wayne County Visitor Center; Director of the 1998 Art exhibit at Dorflinger Cut Glass Museum; Member of the Rotary Club of Hawley since 1994, President in 2002; Member of the Board of Directors of The Hawley Regional Performing Arts Council since 2002; Coordinator of the art project for children and adults at The Hawley Public Library since 1997 cosponsored by the Hawley Rotary Club and The Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, Monroe County Art Council; Founder of the Annual “Hawley Winterfest” (1999), Facilitator of the “Farmers Market'' (2006) and Founder of the Program “Movies in the Park” (2007) in Hawley, PA. Former member of the Board of Trustees of the Wayne County Historical Society in the State of Pennsylvania and former Chairperson of the Historic Preservation Committee and member of the Board of Directors of The Dorflinger Factory Museum in White Mills, PA.
Juan H. Espino’s paintings are in museums, public institutions, corporate and private collections.
Mary Lapos is a mixed media, fine arts painter. She began decades ago with charcoal and white chalk and from there developed her use of ink and line. She says: “Ink gives me much more freedom in oils which in turn makes my use of watercolors more intense and vibrant. Pastel has been its own challenge but is my most persistent medium with which I work.”
All things imbued with life attract and push her to develop a language in paint to express that condition of BEING. Travel around the world has solidified her belief in the Oneness and similarities of our lives and stories. Her choice of pseudonym, MOTH, is directly related to her goals in art: expressing the unknown and the unseen and making them accessible to everyone.
The moth is a symbol of mystery, possessing the ability to transform nothing into something and darkness into light. Her recent efforts are focused on the interior landscape of her subject matter. “I seem to have an innate ability to penetrate the exterior impression and find and describe the interior forces at work in my subjects. A mentor and collector of my work has offered this observation: MOTH is best known for penetrating depictions of the human condition via paintings that seem to reach past the canvas into the soul of her subject.”
Mary Lapos works from a studio on her farm in Danville, Pennsylvania where she’s lived and produced for 50 years. Her paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States, Europe, India and Ireland. She has exhibited locally and nationally in one woman shows as well as in galleries and universities with her largest body of work entitled “Painting Invisible People” which focuses on social justice issues in 3 countries: India, Haiti and the United States.
Catherine Richmond-Cullen, Ed.D is the Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) Partnership Program (AIE/nepa) at the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit. She manages national and state award winning arts education programming for schools and community agencies in northeastern Pennsylvania. Additional work includes managing the regranting programs of the PCA which provide financial assistance to arts organizations and creatives in the northeastern region of Pennsylvania.
A former Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at The University of Scranton, Dr. Richmond-Cullen’ research includes the effects arts learning and arts integration have on emotional well-being and cognitive development. She has presented at national scientific conferences of the International Gerontological Society. Her most recent publication is The Academy for Creative Aging, a professional development program for teaching artists commissioned by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.