Community Information
Each month, Boardman
Township features a Boardman resident as Artist of the Month and Author of
the Month. The selected artists and authors will have their work displayed
at the Government Center and they are recognized at a board meeting for
their artistic talents.
If interested, please call Stephanie Ouzounian at 330-726-4177, ext. 1187.
After Birth…the art of living
Suzanne Bort
Gray’s statement on her artwork as Artist of the Month for April 2008:
“My art is a
reflection of my closet – shades of the ordinary and seemingly mundane. Just
as my wardrobe reveals a comfort level in the unassuming, the people and
situations I depict are sometimes regarded as unexciting as well. What is
more ordinary than baby pictures? Everyone takes them. Our drawers overflow
with depiction of childhood.
It is only on
closer inspection that truth reveals itself. The curl of a newborn’s fingers,
a touch of innocent sleep, the protective glance of motherhood. Beauty
surrounds us. When we open our eyes to everyday life, grace is there for the
taking. Art and life are in a constant, symbiotic dance, encouraging us to
participate in the rhythm.
I have an
intense emotional attachment to whatever I create. There is a spiritual
investment in the process – a part of my soul remains forever a part of my
art. For me, the creative process is a need that justifies the freedom I have
to choose whatever particular shared of ordinary I’ll wear today.”
In conjunction
with this exhibit, The Face of Peace, the Bort Family’s Global Art
Project for Peace, is on display. The Global Art Project, a biennial art
exchange nominated for a UNESCO Peace Prize, has been instrumental in
fostering peace through creative endeavors since 1994. The Face of Peace
has been selected as the first piece of art to be exchanged with Iraq and it
will be send to Baghdad at the end of April.
Education and
Experience:
BFA painting,
Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio
Art Instructor,
YMCA, Boardman, Ohio
Volunteer, Campus
Ministries, YSU, Youngstown, Ohio
Organizer, Art
for Aid, tsunami relief effort
Volunteer
Coordinator, Global Art Project for Peace
Founder, Hands
Around the World art project
Suzanne Bort Gray
has thirty years of experience as a visual artist and educator. Her art has
been shown on the Today Show and Good Morning America and is in private and
public collections both nationally and internationally.
She can be
reached at 330-758-2850. Her website address is
www.suzannegray.com
