Urbanity & Splash : Open until July 10th: " Artist Talk" July 10th 1-2

Bushwick resident and award-winning photographer Daryl-Ann Saunders is curating a fine art exhibition at the Diana Jones Senior Center. The exhibit is the first participation by the Diana Jones Center in Bushwick Open Studios (BOS), Bushwick’s annual art fair now in its fourth year. “My goal is to make this a community-oriented event,” Daryl-Ann reflected. “There will be English and Spanish signage, music played by a local musician, a flow of artists, art-goers and senior citizens who use the Center plus their families. There is a gap between various groups of people in Bushwick, and I’m aiming for this exhibit to ‘cross-over’ between everyone.”

Two of those Bushwick groups are represented in concurrent exhibitions at the center. Local artists Melissa Dyanne Bartlett, Jillian Brall, Rhett Jones, Daryl-Ann Saunders and Mark Skwarek with Joseph Hocking, Arthur Peers and Damon Baker explore interpretations of the urban environment through a range of media in the exhibit, "Urbanity: Interpretations of the Urban Landscape". This is the first exhibit of artwork by artists who are not members of Diana Jones to be installed at the center. The second group of artists is the center’s own seniors art group. “Color Splash” features artwork by 14 members of the senior center, an idea encouraged by Ms. Saunders to more realistically reflect, through art, the diverse age groups and demographics present in the Bushwick community. Curated by the Center’s director, Narcisa Ruiz-Secchiano, “Color Splash” includes artwork by Zheng Chang, Joe Ellerbee, Rosa Javier, Amy Lam, Rita Leist, Carmen Miro, Feng Liam Gui, Ming Chen Hsu, Jia Cheng Hua, Zhong Xin Xu, Xian Di Yu, Bei Rong Yu, Xili Zhang and Wang Zhen Hua.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th from 12:00 pm to 6:00pm, the public is welcome to the Center to enjoy the exhibits, music, refreshments, snacks and art-related events such as real-time 3-D graphics and video art installations. All events are open to the public, free of charge. The exhibit will remain on display until July 10th. That day, Daryl-Ann will conduct an art talk in both English and Spanish so that community members from diverse backgrounds can participate. The dual art exhibit is one of numerous projects proposed by Ms. Saunders as part of a six month artist residency at the Diana Jones Center. The residency was awarded by the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), in partnership with New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Department for the Aging. The newly launched residency program provides work space for artists at senior centers in order to bring seniors in contact with the artistic process.

For an additional residency project, “Pioneers of Bushwick”, Ms. Saunders plans photographic portraits of long-time Bushwick residents combined with their written comments about the tumultuous years in Bushwick during the late 70’s through the 90’s. Daryl-Ann hopes to “mark the completion of the BAC residency with an extensive exhibit of these portraits to honor and give testament to the senior citizens who chose to stay in Bushwick throughout its most difficult period.”

The Diana Jones Senior Center is sponsored by the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council. The center is located at 9 Noll Street, just a couple of blocks east of Flushing Avenue, on the corner of Bushwick Avenue. The center is open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. For more information call 718-782-3601.

The exhibits run until July 10th and the artist talk is on Saturday July 10th from 1-2pm.