Owen Valentine: There are over 1500 official and unofficial holidays listed on the national day calendar website. So I decided to take a scroll and see what today, October 22, was recognized as. To my delight, today is National Color Day, so I took a trip to art class to get me back in the spirit.
Owen Valentine: So even though it might be dark and dreary today in Central New York, if you take a couple steps inside the Northern Onondaga Public Library in Brewerton, a whole new world of color awaits.
Owen Valentine: Every Tuesday…the creative aging croup at the Library meet for a class to draw and talk about nature. Although their sketches do not have color…the intricacies of each picture capture the light just like the brain naturally would.
Laurie Schillawski: Color. It’s all around us. It makes our lives vibrant. Not to be cliche, but it really does make everything vibrant for us. I’m always seeking out color – the contrast between lights and darks.
Owen Valentine: But today marked the last meeting for the course. And the last class Schillawski will teach for some time. That’s because she and her husband have sold their house, cars and belongings and are moving into a trailer to explore North America next Friday.
Laurie Schillawski: Full-time RV nomads. Which means we’re going to a place, our goal is two weeks to a month. I’m an artist so I plan on painting some of the areas I’m at and my husband is an award winning landscape photographer.
Owen Valentine: Any concerns packing everything up and living in a 20 foot trailer?
Laurie Schillawski: My husband! Just kidding, absolutely not.
Owen Valentine: But there was a particularly tough day as Schillawski’s house was being cleaned out.
Laurie Schillawski: The last day when the clean out guys were there I thought to dump it in a dumpster and they were gonna haul it away. No, they were there to pack it neatly and sell all my possessions that I hadn’t taken care of. That meant my artwork.
Owen Valentine: After all…it was the Schillawski’s artistic drive that pushed them into this new adventure. So as Laurie packs up her things and leaves the library after her final class, she starts a fresh chapter in a brand new book. Owen Valentine. NCC News.
BREWERTON, N.Y. (NCC News) – Laughter from the meeting room fills the entire Northern Onondaga Public Library in Brewerton. No, it is not a comedy show, but rather a weekly drawing class held in the library’s meeting room.
Every Tuesday, a dozen ladies come together to sit and draw in an open and friendly learning environment. Casual conversation sparks a continuous buzz throughout the class and the teacher, Laurie Schillauski, brings a smile to all of the students’ faces.
“My doctor told be I should be a stand-up comic,” Schillauski said, her laid-back teaching and quick-wit evident within the first five minutes of class.
This is not your ordinary drawing class, however. It is a part of the “Creative Aging” program within the NOPL system. The programs were made possible through a grant from CNY Arts and the Friends of Cicero Library groups. The goal is to bring individuals over the age of 50 together for social engagement in the arts.
The camaraderie and encouragement throughout the 90 minute class on Tuesday echoed those goals. As it was the final meeting before the small art show being held at the library on Saturday, final touches were being put on the drawings. Everyone came in with different experience levels and they all expressed signs of improvement from the class.
Every few minutes, one of the students would take a lap around to see their classmates’ works. ‘Ooh that’s beautiful’ and ‘I love how this turned out’ were amongst the many compliments exchanged as Schillauski would point out different techniques and approaches to the illustration.
As the class left for the final time, the group consensus appeared to be eager for the next course to start up. It just goes to show, when learning is fun in an encouraging environment, you can never get enough.
