Harper Center Program Offers Outlet For Creativity
 Verne Bosworth was working on a puppy painting at the Harper Center's Tuesday morning art program last week. |
They come every Tuesday from 9 until 11:30 to be tutored by skilled artist and instructor Jackie Toomey in creating works of art.
In an interview, the women spoke of what motivated them to take part in the painting program and what the program means to them.
"Tuesday is my favorite day, because I go to art at the Harper Center. It lifts up my spirits," said Dorothy Kirby of North Adams, who has been in the program for eight years.
Kirby said she drew quite a bit as a child and began thinking she was an artist; when she was a young adult, she would dream she was an artist. "I was happy in those dreams, but at that time if you said you wanted to be an artist, people thought you were crazy," Kirby recalled.
After Kirby had raised a family, she mentioned to an artist friend how she felt about art. "[My friend] was changing mediums and gave me her painting supplies," said Kirby. "I called Jackie and started going to the Harper Center. "
At the Harper Center a recent Tuesday, Kirby set up her tabletop easel and began working on a painting. Sometimes Kirby brings to the Harper Center paintings she had already finished. "At home I've been taking out some work I've done in the past and going over it. 'That's not good,' I'll say to myself, 'I'll bring it to Jackie for help,'" Kirby explained.
Participating in the painting program is virtually a dream come true for Verne Bosworth of North Adams. "I always wanted to go to an art class, but it was too expensive," she said. The fee for taking part in the Harper Center painting program is minimal, and the tutor gains high praise from her students.
"Jackie never tells us what to paint or that everyone is going to learn water colors or any particular medium, but encourages us and helps us make our paintings better," Bosworth said. "When I was doing a painting of Picasso's self-portrait, Jackie kept telling me 'dark' and 'darker.' At first I thought 'how much darker can I make it?' but when it was finished I could see that Jackie had been so right."
 Margo Melito gets some advice from instructor Jackie Toomey. |
Because Toomey does large pieces, she has only brought one to the Harper Center for the people in the painting program to see. "But she has many beautiful paintings in her home," said Bosworth. "Her work is incredible."
Diane Maero, who resides in the state of Florida and spends summers in Williamstown, was interested in art and coloring as a child growing up in North Adams, but did not develop it, she said.
Maero started painting about 30 years ago in Florida when she and her late husband, an opera singer, studied water colors. Then they decided to go to an art class taught by Christopher Still who, Maero said, is a well-known artist in Florida. Still's paintings can be found in museums and private collections, including the governor's mansion of Florida and the Smithsonian Institute.
"There are a lot of art clubs in Florida. They have art shows in rec rooms," said Maero. "Some people have done it all of their lives, some start as retirees."
Maero was a widow when a neighbor in Williamstown told her about the Harper Center painting program. Two years later, Maero said, "It's a very enjoyable group of all levels of skill. We do different types of art work and you learn from each other."
Maero works in several mediums, including charcoal and watercolors. She does not title her paintings, except for "Night at the Opera," which depicts women dressed in formal attire ready to go out. Though she often works from images, she said, "Night at the Opera" was born in her head. "The reward of painting is the joy of doing it," said Maero. "Each painting is a part of your soul that you don't want to sell."
It is likely that Sandy Zeppieri's love of art was inspired by elder relatives. "My grandmother and aunt painted and I started with my aunt. I dabbled in it over the years, but did not do a lot until I retired," said Zeppieri, who lives in Williamstown. "When my aunt passed on, I inherited her art books and all her supplies."
 Susan Stanton is working on a landscape; she began attending the program 10 years ago. |
Everything at the Harper Center is different, she said. "I was a little timid at first but it's the best thing I ever did. ... With Jackie, it's more personal and she shows you how to improve your paintings."
Zeppieri finds the most satisfying stage of painting comes when a piece is finished and people are surprised that she did it, and she is happy with it.
Susan Stanton of Williamstown has participated in the painting program for the last 10 years to help fill a void in her life. "I love art," Stanton said as she sat in her wheelchair holding a paint pallet. "I was a musician by trade, but I had strokes and could no longer sing or play an instrument. Painting was something to do, something to learn."
For Harriet Teichert of Cheshire, "Painting is therapy." A caregiver to her husband, Teichert arranges to have a health-care aide stay with her husband on the Tuesdays she is away from home.
Teichert had some of her paintings copied onto note cards at Staples. "I gave them to friends. At first they didn't realize I had painted them," she said, as her brush busily replicated a postcard view of an island off the coast of Maine. "It's my favorite place."
A relative newcomer to the painting program, Margo Melito of North Adams, was working on a painting of a cottage that is on Cape Cod. Her box of art supplies was open, revealing a saying affixed to the inside: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life" by Pablo Picasso.
"I like [the painting program] because it makes me set aside a morning to get wonderful instructions from Jackie," Melito said, adding that she also likes the opportunity to cultivate friendships.
Toomey chimed in, "But the art program is not just a social function. I can see the participants progress."
 Some of the participants, such as Dorothy Kirby, have seen their work exhibited at local libraries and the hospital. |
Library Director Pat MacLeod initiated the art display at the library.
"When I started here in 1998, I couldn't stand the blank walls," MacLeod said in an interview. "I got together an art committee, but they wanted only juried artists and wanted resumes. I simply wanted the public to have a place to show their work — sculpture, pottery, paintings ... ."
So MacLeod took on the responsibility of overseeing use of the display facilities. "People just have to call me to be put on the list," she said, adding that the display space is booked a year in advance.
Now, the painting group at Harper Center is talking about the possibility of displaying their work at the North Adams Public Library. Zeppieri whose artwork was first displayed at Wild Oats, said, "It's encouraging when friends as well as other people see your work and then compliment you."
For additional information on the painting program, call the Harper Center, home of the Williamstown Council on Aging, at 413-458-8250.
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