Now that it has happened...

My “Growing Up (mostly) Italian” exhibit was such a huge success this past weekend! I was honored at the amount of people who came out to see it. So, now that it has happened, I will post the pieces and the stories behind them.

The Beginning…

Growing Up (mostly) Italian

The idea for this exhibit developed out of  a conversation with my sister Katie. I was telling her about  painting I had just finished that was inspired by a story we heard many times growing up. As we spoke about it, I thought of how fun it would be to create a body of work of memories and stories I heard growing up.

My father (of all Italian descent) and his family lived on Staten Island. My mother (with no Italian blood) was originally from upstate New York. Most of her family remained in that region. Growing up, my siblings and myself were surrounded by my father's family, being that they all lived here. So much of our influences were Italian... even though that was only a part of who we are. 

This exhibit encompasses some of my memories, perceptions, and thoughts of, growing up mostly Italian.

This exhibit was made possible by a DCA Premier Grant from Staten Island Arts with funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The American/Miss Pog Mo Thoin

This is the painting that sparked the idea for this exhibit; based on a story my mother told numerous times while I was growing up.

My mother claimed that when she first started dating my father, she wasn’t exactly “warmly” welcomed by his family due to her lack of Italian blood. She said that she even overheard them say a couple of times, upon arrival to my grandparent’s house,  “Here’s the American”. I could only imagine the look on her face at that moment; trying to smile while really wanting to say something rude to them.