Huntington – Supervisor Chad A.
Lupinacci hosted Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) to
honor special needs artists participating in FREE’s Fine Art and Art Therapy
Programs at a Meet the Artists Reception, joined by Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia,
Heckscher Museum of Art Executive Director Michael Schantz and Huntington Arts
Council Executive Director Marc Courtade at Huntington Town Hall on Wednesday,
December 12.
“Allowing the Town to host such an
event and share it with the greater community is something that will bring more
awareness to the benefits of art therapy and help more individuals with Autism
and other special needs express themselves through the hidden language of
images, colors and symbols,” said Supervisor Lupinacci. “We have had quite the
positive reception to the art exhibition in the weeks since it has been
installed. The pieces bring life and warmth to the walls of this building, so
thank you to FREE and to the artists for sharing yourselves with us through
your art.”
Heckscher Museum of Art Executive
Director Michael Schantz and Huntington Arts Council Executive Director Marc
Courtade delivered remarks on the importance of art in the community and our
culture. Ed Regensburg, Director of Art Therapy at FREE, discussed the art
therapy process FREE’s programs undertake and the importance of art therapy.
At the ceremony, Supervisor
Lupinacci presented proclamations to the artists in attendance, after which
FREE and the artists presented the Supervisor with a Partnership Award.
The collection, entitled
“Revelations,” were created by individuals with Autism and other Special Needs
who participate in Fine Art and Art Therapy programs at FREE. The artists’
works were on exhibit and for sale, with proceeds benefitting the artists and
their programs, at Huntington Town Hall from November 27 through January 8,
2019. Several pieces from the exhibition were sold, including one sold to Joshua
Price, Chief of Staff to Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, who donated the piece to
the Town. The piece now hangs in the reception area of the Supervisor’s office.
Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci and
Town Attorney Nicholas Ciappetta purchased one of the pieces together as a gift
for Deputy Supervisor Pat Del Col, who had expressed her admiration for the
piece before the end of the exhibition and is retiring in late January after 25
years of government service to the Town.
Family Residences and Essential
Enterprises, Inc. (FREE), founded in 1977, benefits and proudly supports more
than 4,000 individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities, mental
illness and traumatic brain injury. FREE provides a diverse array of supports
and services including: housing; recovery services; transition to work;
employment; day, community and family services; respite; crisis services;
education and after school support; specialty health services; and advocacy.
FREE also collaborates with a
variety of diverse 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners on educational, vocational,
rehabilitative and a myriad of other creative initiatives to enhance the local
communities and the lives of more than 25,000 people that reside within them.
Each of the valued partners of the FREE Network have a unique mission, vision
and strategic goals that are aligned in purpose, and embody the spirit of the
meaningful work we do every day. For more information, please call 516-870-7000
or visit www.familyres.org.
In the photo(s): Supervisor Chad A.
Lupinacci and Diane Cheslok with her painting, “Early Development,” which was
purchased by Joshua Price, Chief of Staff, and hangs in the Supervisor’s
reception area; FREE Director of Art Therapy Ed Regensburg and FREE artists with Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci.
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