Published By: All Right Magazine on May 30, 2010

‘Combining Grace:’ a tribute to Gilda Radner – ‘No one should have to face Cancer alone’

Group Exhibition: Curated by Jennifer Contini Enderby, Tehera Niyego and Natalie Meek

Contact: Jennifer Contini Enderby
(917) 903-6582

The charity exhibit will be held at Station Gallery, TriBeCa

73 Franklin Street between Broadway and Church, New York, NY

The opening reception on Thursday June 10th, 7-9pm, is free to the public with a suggested $40 donation at the door. All monetary donations and 40% of artwork proceeds will benefit Gilda’s Club of New York City (GCNYC)  at  www.gildasclubnyc.org .

‘Combining Grace’ is a group-art show consisting of contemporary female artists such as Sara Conca, Alix Martin, Genevieve White, Susan Olmetti, Chris Kalouche, Julie Staub, Aissata Pinto da Costa, Amber Maida, Michel Keck, Sonia Semone, Lisa Strazz, Kyte Valentini, Dawn Sweitzer, Maria Pavlovska, Carmen and Jennifer Contini Enderby.

‘While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die; whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness’ — Gilda Radner.

This collection of diverse artists demonstrates the balance between creativity, grace and femininity.

Their collective work inspires the viewer to feel empowered through mixed media, abstract paintings, photography and live-performance art music.

GCNYC was founded in 1995 in honor of Gilda Radner, the brilliant and beloved comedian for whom love, laughter and community were powerful medicines in her own battle with cancer.

For 15 years, GCNYC has offered a place where men, women, teens and children living with cancer, and their families and friends, can join together to build social and emotional support as an essential supplement to medical care.

Thanks to the tireless support of our friends, families, individual and corporate donors, we have been able to do all of this free of charge. GCNYC has since grown to a community of over 6,000 members and spawned a national movement with over 20 affiliate clubhouses currently open in the United States and Canada.

This event is graciously sponsored by Station Digital, who will be serving wine and asks ‘everyone to drink responsibly.’

For more information, please visit us at www.gildasclubnyc.org .

Press Contact: Allison P. Lurey at (212) 647-9700 ext. 256 or at alurey@gildasclubnyc.org, Gilda’s Club of New York City (GCNYC).

Hank Richards from the Examiner was able to contact Jennifer Contini, Susan Olmetti and Sara Conca for personal interviews and reports the following:

Jennifer Contini is a lead curator for ‘Combining Grace’ and has carried on a love affair with New York City since1993. ‘I live and work in a place that beats to the same drum as I do. My vibrant TriBeCa neighborhood defines and inspires my work,’ said Contini to Richards.

Jennifer’s technique of using mixed media, including acrylics, metals, resins, plastics, marbles, maps and signs that she salvages from the streets of New York, enrich her paintings.

In addition to painting, Jennifer is a song-writer and guitarist. The self-proclaimed ‘downtown girl’ currently lives in TriBeCa with her husband and children. Contact Jennifer at (917) 903-6582.

The spunk and spirit of Susan Marie Olmetti is freed by painting from her fingertips. The confines of her bipolar disorder spill on to a canvas and dance in vivid color right before your eyes. Her frenetic energy extends through her works and has attracted widespread international attention to her abstract artistry and transformed into a healing tool for the intense woman.

International newspaper editors at Canada’s Globe and Mail and magazine editors at Today’s Chicago Women have been drawn to Olmetti and her creations. She is listed in Davenport’s Art Reference and Price Guide. Susan is available by telephone at (708) 668-6036 in Chicago.

Sara Conca is a self taught New York based artist. By the age of 17, she was living and working in Paris, an experience, she told Richards, ‘that only reinforced my appreciation for movement, energy and art.’

Sara’s well regarded works have been sold to many private collectors and she has had a number of solo and group exhibitions, including The Soho, D&H Gallery Solo Shows, The Henry Gregg Gallery Compilation Show, Chelsea Art Gallery 32, Mansion NY, Le Bilboquet, Ted Gibson NY, Decor Art Gallery NY and Bo Concepts Designs stores. Sara has also sold and displayed artwork in Europe and most recently Indonesia. Sara takes calls at (917) 535-2669.

These ‘Combining Grace’ contributors want everyone to remember the real Gilda Susan Radner , June 28, 1946 — May 20, 1989; a true American comedienne and actress who was best known for her five years as part of the original cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for which she won an Emmy Award and an unselfish heart as big as the sky.

Radner’s death at 42 of ovarian cancer helped increase public awareness of the disease and the need for earlier detection and treatment.

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‘Combining Grace’  Logo’s of GCNYC and Stations Digital

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Next feature — Debbie Lee, mother of Marc Allen Lee, the first U.S. Navy Seal killed in Iraq.

Contact Hank Richards by email at editor@pronlinenews.com or call him at (256) 417-6084 and follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Hank is a prostate cancer survivor and a nationwide public speaker on the issue. If you want to schedule him for your next speaking venue, just call the number listed above.

Tags: cancer, charity, gilda radner, New York, news

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