League offers environment for creative growth
LW ART LEAGUE
by Jim Greer
LW contributor
In her July 22, 2025, New York Times article, “My Mother the Artist, Discovered at 90,” Allisa Quart shared the touching story of helping find homes for her 90-year-old mother’s 400 paintings. Her mother, a retired literature scholar, had been painting almost daily since retiring 30 years earlier.
Like so many members of the Leisure World Art League, Quart’s mother “has a mixture of self-effacement and pride about her work. Her paintings may not be ‘worth’ a gallery show, in her mind.” But the Art League believes everyone deserves to have their work seen, shown, and appreciated in a public setting.
This is exactly why the Art League launched “Art in Bloom,” an annual exhibition featuring the art of Leisure World residents. The show premiered in June and amazed hundreds of visitors with colorful and expressive 2D and 3D art. Before “Art in Bloom,” many Leisure World artists had never displayed their work in a public forum. This was the Art League’s first juried exhibition, and it succeeded in pulling back the curtain and revealing the rich, and heretofore hidden expressions of passion created with skilled, aging hands.
The Art League advocates for Leisure World residents who want to express themselves on paper, canvas, cloth, precious metals, glass, or ceramic by permitting the display of their art during the club’s monthly meetings, in Spotlight on the Artist three times a year, and at the Art in Bloom exhibition, which the club plans to hold each spring.
The Art League is where creative people can hone their skills, receive technical training from professional guest artists, and display work alongside the community’s spectrum of supportive and inspiring artists.
As Quart lovingly stated regarding her mother’s art, “a painting is the promise that our consciousness can persist beyond the hand that picked up the brush.”
Artistic expression, in all its forms, records and displays our consciousness and allows artists and their creativity to live on in whatever media the artist chooses.
The Art League will meet Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. in Clubhouse 4.
Barbara Simundza poses with her art at the exhibition.
