May 2008, Governor's Award

The Senior Artists Alliance received the First Annual Maryland Governor's Leadership in Aging visual arts group award. It was presented by Governor O'Malley at a reception at the Annapolis Senior Center on May 13. Maryland bought Renata Vaccari's pastel, shown below, to illustrate their poster.   Thank you, Governor O'Malley SAA attendees were Mary Ellen Gordon, Paul Pincus, Renata Vaccari, Marianne & Paul Giguere, Stuart Glickman Lt. Governor Brown, Governor O'Malley, and the legendary journalist, Helen Thomas presented our award. Ms. Thomas, the guest speaker, delivered a hard-hitting manifesto on the decline in the quality and ethics of political reportage and presented her view of the Bush administration's policies, morals and actions....

May 10, 2008, Sumita Kim

Sumita Kim, future chair of the art department at Montgomery College, spoke May 10 

Her lecture, “One Has to Forge One’s Own Path,” offered us an introspective journey through her art. Professor Kim spoke of two forces that face most artists: the need to follow one’s artistic instincts and desires and the struggle between the demands of everyday life versus your art.

She explained that pain, struggle, control and self-doubt are motivating forces behind her work. Her abstracts, in particular, illustrate a soft visual texture in contrast to the harshness and reality of life.

Her latest work is comprised of soft sculpture. She is currently incorporating photography as another medium to express her art.