Two of our longtime artists in residence took a bit of personal creative time away from the hospital this summer to work on other creative projects.
When some friends from the West Coast of Florida asked Matt to paint a mural in their Real Estate office he took them up on their challenge.
Using satellite images, photographs he had taken of landmark buildings, and memories of living in the area to be his guide, our artist in residence, Matt took time out from his work with our kiddos to created a mural that span three rooms, 40' x 8' overall at a real estate company in the Sarasota, Florida.
Once the bulk of the colors were laid out Matt made a list of the elements that he wanted to include, trees, houses, clouds, boats, channel markers, etc.
It was difficult not get wrapped up in the tiny details because I could get lost painting little stories across the land and sea. That was probably my favorite part, recording stories. Luckily the owners are good friends and said I could come back to add more stories to it any time in the future.
Artist in residence, Samantha went on a summer adventure of a completely different kind filling in as an instructor at a children’s theater camp in Oberlin, Ohio.
Having worked with The MAD* Factory before relocating to Jacksonville, Samantha was delighted to be offered a summer position with the non-profit organization in Lorain County, Ohio, that provides young people with education and performance experience in music, arts, and drama. During the camp, children learned about movement, stage blocking, memorizing lines, make props and costumes, while preparing plays for performance.
In addition to instructing at the camp Samantha was able to dust off her tap shoes and perform with the The MAD* Factory summer production of “The Producers” in which she played the role of a brazen Broadway backer.
I love being involved in the creative process of putting on a production show, there are so many moving parts, and it is wonderful to see it all come together for opening night.
We are grateful to have both Matt and Samantha back with us after their creative summer adventures.