Following is a list of our past gatherings:
| Event | Date | Place | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting | June 19, 2013 | 247 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Fund Raiser | June 30, 2013 | Villa Paul Restaurant, Hampton Bays | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | July 10, 2013 | SILO, Ronkonkoma | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | July 28, 2013 | 247 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | September 25, 2013 | 247 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Fund Raiser | September 28, 2013 | Buckley's Inn Between, Hampton Bays | Click to view this summary |
| Extravaganza | October 10, 2013 | Vail-Leavitt Theater, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | October 30, 2013 | 247 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | November 13, 2013 | SILO, Ronkonkoma | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | December 11, 2013 | 225 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | January 8, 2014 | SILO, Ronkonkoma | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | February 27, 2014 | 225 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | March 20, 2014 | 225 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Juried Art Show | March 28, 2014 | Old Town Arts & Crafts, Cutchogue | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | April 10, 2014 | 225 East Second Street, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
| Art Show | April 12, 2014 | Old Town Arts & Crafts, Cutchogue | Click to view this summary |
| Meeting | October 16, 2014 | Synergy, Riverhead | Click to view this summary |
Attendees: Julie B Erdman Sue Parrinello Jessica Monti Tiffany Monti Peter Martens Peter Mastropolo Phil Algosino Mokesha Wyche Diane Hillman Kimberly Turner Eva Roberts-Vazquez Daniel O’Hara
Another great time was had at 247 East Second St. Once again, thank you to Mokesha and Diane for hosting. We are very excited to be working with some new community partners. Kathleen Flynn-Bisson will lend her invaluable directorial expertise and invite her actors to take part in our Mosaic Voices production. Eva recommended that we reach out to promoter, Andrew Wargo, for community outreach advice. Jessica Monti lent some terrific pointers for fundraising and business promotion ideas. Welcome aboard, Jessica!
Peter Mastropolo showed a sampling of his fine photography portfolio. We discussed possibilities for the Villa Paul fundraiser and Creative Director, Kimberly Turner, shared the list of artwork selected for the Villa Paul art auction.
Peter Martens shared some witticisms, and Tiffany read some touching, memorable pieces she is submitting for The Suffolk Theater Mosaic Voices production.
Kimberly wrote some excellent verses representing differing female archetypes for the show at The Suffolk Theater. Broadly thematic and written from a neo-feminist perspective.
Please make your voice heard by writing in your nominations for the Mental Health Service Awards to Leon.Marquis@omhny.gov
Call for submissions for the Suffolk Theater is in progress. Please submit your personal stories as well as artwork by the end of July. Please see the home page for submission guidelines or call Julie at (516) 313-9583 or Kimberly at (631) 375-5752.
Thanks go to everyone who turned out at this wonderful dinner and art auction. Our gracious host served up some wonderful meals at a reasonable price. We had fabulous food, drink, and atmosphere in a truly beautiful setting..
We enjoyed looking at the work of Don Duga and Irra Verbitsky, and of course at the works of Kimberly, Susan, and all our other terrific artists.
The wonderful acoustic guitar music by Michael J. LeClerc made this a perfect evening. Did we enjoy ourselves? See for yourself in the pictures above.
Attendees: Edith P. Kimberly Turner Karlie Linda Michaels David Lancaster Li Li Lin Sean Talisman Melissa Arleth Julie B Erdman Bill Murdock Tiffany Monti Louis Diamond Laura Diamond Sue Parrinello Frances Quervaly Patt LaPorte Dale Ferricone
Great vibes at our gathering at SILO, everyone! Thank you to Joe Delgado, Executive Director at SILO, for keeping the building open for us. It was such a pleasure to meet so many talented souls who were so generous in sharing their work!
David showed some of the intricate, beautiful mandalas he's drawn. The interweaving of his line and design conveys the togetherness of mosaic art.
Patt showcased a painting from her biblical art collection. Such fantastic detail of emotional expression painted in her faces. Her use of color is also unique and reflective of the melancholy mood her painting conveys. For a real treat, please check out her work at www.biblicalartbypattlaporte.com.
Li Li shared a stunning piece that would fit with any high quality animation. Passion and danger were reflected in her version of a femme fatale.
Dale showed a piece that utilized both her skills as an artist and craftsperson. Symmetry and consistency of design came through her work.
Tiffany read a deeply moving piece about losing a friend to a premature and tragic death. She writes straight from the heart, the beauty of her writing contained in her honesty.
Sean read about an experience he'd likely never want to repeat. Both the difficulty of living through this chaotic period and his self deprecating wit set the tone of his story and had the audience in stitches.
Kim read her "Girl in Rags" poem. Deep humanity conveyed in simple, clever verse. Modeled on the Johnny Cash song, "Man in Black".
Next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 14 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at SILO. Generally, these meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month.
Please bring work that you would like to have considered for Creative Explorations production, "Mosaic Voices," at The Suffolk Theater in Riverhead. This is part of a larger anti-stigma project being spearheaded by Clubhouse of Suffolk, MHA in Suffolk, and Suffolk County United Veterans. Creative Explorations is seeking people who want to share their personal stories and/ or artwork of any medium. For more details on submission guidelines, please go to the home pagewww.creativeexplore.org.
Attendees: Jorge Morante Peter Martens Eva Roberts-Vazquez
Bill Murdock David Lancaster Kimberly Turner
Tiffany Mont Carlie Linda Michaels Peter Mastropolo
Mary Bentivegno John Fonara Phil Algosino
Berenice Gray Travis Ludwall Mokesha Wyche
Another great night at Mokesha and Diane's. Loved John's guitar playing...he had a campfire singalong going with his rendering of some classic rock favorites.
Last meeting we were treated to David's magnificent mandalas. Loved the poetry he shared with the group, with "The Pass of a Warfare Passion." Eva had some beautiful musings about the continuum of life and death.
Julie shared a piece that she will use for Mosaic Voices, our upcoming show at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall on October 10th. Travis Ludwall blew us all away with his depiction of a far out, fantastic character.
The artwork and photography we were blessed to see was, as usual, breathtaking.
Quote from Kim: "Make love, not stigma"
Please remember to email Leon Marquis at Leon.Marquis@omh.ny.gov to submit your nominations for the emPOWERment LUNCHeon and Awards Show on Thursday, October 10th.
It was a tight squeeze in Mokesha and Diane's living room last Wednesday with fifteen of us sitting, enjoying Kimberly's fine cuisine, and sharing our work. Terrific art and writing shared and earnest planning for our emPOWERment LUNCHeon and Mosaic Voices show!
A couple of notable additions here, our own Ronnie Mayer earned a first prize at the Riverhead Free Library annual Photograph contest. He will be honored at a reception at the library at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 4th. Friends of Ron, come out and show your support for this talented photographer!
We are so excited to host the fabulous local band, Hot Pockets, at our Mosaic Voices evening show on October 10th at The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall. The band will play following our one act play, from approximately 7:00 PM until 8:30 with a set break. This will be a fantastic, fun way for those of us planning and working for months to relax and enjoy. Please join our meet and greet with the cast. Michael LeClerc, the bass player for Hot Pockets, entertained us with his original compositions on classical guitar at our Villa Paul Dinner over the summer and we are thrilled to have this fantastic musician play with his band at our event.
Thank you to those who came out to support us at our fun-filled Buckley's raffle and Irish Music event. The owners, Mike and Paul, were gracious hosts with fabulous food, drink, and atmosphere. Thank you, as always, to Mike Stoltz, Colleeen Merlo, and Joe Delgado, and, especially, all of our wonderful artists, writers, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and craftspeople for sharing their life and work!
The music was great--a big thank you to Dave Cafasso and Bob Burroughs. Many people were interested in our cause. Stigma exists solely because people don't know anything else. People need to be informed that mental illness is something that can be treated just like any other condition.
As those of you who know me can confirm, I can be quite talkative and like to call myself a writer. Rare are the moments when I am at a loss for words. And yet, I find that I am in one of those moments...I can't begin to describe how amazing our anti-stigma was at The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall on October 10th. To the artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, photographers, and actors who made it a success, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you and feel privileged to have shared this day of empowerment with you all. To the nominees and winners of awards, you are the role models and leaders of our time.
To Colleen and Mike, thank you for inviting us to be a part of your mental illness awareness week. We could not have pulled off an event of this scope without your support and generosity. In some conventional mental health settings, peers still have to demand a place at decision making tables. With both of you, we are invited guests who are afforded multiple opportunities to assist in transformation.
To Jessie, Vince, Lindsay, Bob, Clutch, and all of you at The Vail, we LOVED hosting our event at your fabulous historic building. With good reason, I want to pass along that The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall is up for Dan's Papers Best of the Best again this year. Please vote at www.danspapers.com.
We love you, Kathleen of KFB Prevention through the Arts and your Stories of Substance actors and will miss all of the rehearsals. Creative Explorations will go back to holding our two meetings per month. For people interested in attending a meeting, our next east end meeting will be on Wednesday, October 30th at 6:00 PM at 225 East Second St in Riverhead. Our next meeting at SILO, 2111 Lakeland Avenue in Ronkonkoma, will be on Wednesday, November 13th at 6:00 PM. Because of the Thanksgiving Holiday, I am thinking that we will have our east end meeting the following week, on November 20th. More info on that is forthcoming.
We will see some of you at the Third Annual Chili Fest at Clubhouse of Suffolk in Ronkonkoma on Saturday, October 19th. Kimberly Turner will represent Creative Explorations at the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk at Jones Beach on Saturday, October 20th. If interested in finding out more about this event, please call Kim at (631) 375-5752. On November 3rd, at Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury, NY, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) will be hosting a walk they call, "Out of the Darkness Community Walk." More information on this and other upcoming events will be appearing on our website soon. Currently, Jorge Morante, CEN board member and website manager, has closed down the site to work on improvements. Look for more announcements from us in your email inbox.
Attendees: Daniel O'Hara Julie B. Erdman Diane Hillman Philip Algosino Mokesha Wyche Kimberly Turner Tiffany Monti Travis Lundwall Eva June Roberts-Vazquez Vincent Rella Anna Santacroce Sue Parrinello
The East End meeting on 10/30 was warm and supportive. I want to take the time to extend a special thanks to Mokesha and Diane for welcoming us in their lovely home over the past year. Also, I must highlight Kimberly's fantastic contribution in food preparation. We have moved far beyond hummus and pita chips since she's taken over refreshments these last months. For the October gathering, she baked a fantastic and original pasta and bean casserole.
Attendees: Travis Lundwall Julie B. Erdman Kimberly Turner Tiffany Monti
Both Travis and Tiffany read their material: Tiffany in her frank, straightforward prose let us know who she is and what she stands for. Travis brought a great body of his poetry, which blended nuance, absurdity, and rhyme ingeniously. He shared a recording of a song he composed and sang with his strong, clear tenor voice. Julie gave her best shot at singing Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" (Grace Slick has nothing to fear, rest assured). Kimberly, of course, brought the goodies. We missed our usual Ronkonkoma crowd but we had FUN.
Our east end meeting is always something to look forward to. In addition to sharing our creative work, we want you to plan with us how we may get our "Creative Care" greeting cards off the ground, shake hands on the logo designed by Mokesha and Kimberly, plan our Holiday gathering, and discuss our visions for the future.
This is an exciting time, folks. Peace to all...Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah. Hope you're all able to reach out to one another during this holiday season. Expect to hear more Creative Explorations news come December.
Attendees: Anna Santacroce Phil Algosino Vincent Rella Eva Roberts-Vazquez Sue Parrinello Julie Erdman Yvonne Johnson-Fasset Kimberly Turner Mokesha Wyche Diane Hillman Peter Mastropolo Tiffany Monti Andrew Diller Sue Kravitz Lou-Ann Rinde Travis Lundwall Sean Talisman Peter Martens Scott Elling
It was such a wonderful, beautiful evening at Mokesha and Diane’s. Mokesha’s fried chicken was much anticipated and lived up to its rep: it was out of this world! Thanks for the spaghetti and meatballs, abundance of fruit platters, veggies, and, of course, candy and cake. So glad we had the PA system. Great touch and functionally needed.
A couple of important business items: We took notes pertaining to who we are, what we stand for, and what we aim to accomplish. Thank you to everyone who contributed and be aware that a strategy meeting will take place at our January 22nd meeting (Sean, please do bring the Karaoke machine. We are definitely not all about business). Next public events will take place in April and the first week of May (Mental Illness Awareness Month!) and, working in conjunction with Old Town Arts & Crafts Guild in Cutchogue, fantastic opportunities for artists to showcase work and further social consciousness abound. Look for a call for submissions in your email soon.
Now for the FUN: Travis read a deeply moving account of his story; Phil played Vincent’s guitar; there was singing, rapping, and poetry recitation. CONGRATULATIONS to Tiffany for becoming a Certified Animal Behavior Specialist and to Sean for excelling so far in his Stony Brook MSW program. Happy Birthday to Kimberly. House was rocked!
Good Vibes and happy thoughts, everyone!
The meeting at SILO on January 8th provided great workshop opportunities for our writers, as there was ample time for reading and great feedback. Tiffany, Travis, and Julie shared work and Karlie, Sean, and Sue also attended.
For all artists, writers, and performers, we invite you to share your work and profit personally at our exciting Arts and Wellness Event at The Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild from May 1st through May 8th! For fine artists and photographers, the Guild in Cutchogue is hosting their Juried Art Competition on April 25th, so get your pieces ready for the contest! This is an exciting opportunity to work with an arts organization that has stood as a pillar of the North Fork community for the past 65 years.
We will review details on January 22nd at 225 East Second Street in Riverhead at 6:00 PM when we meet on the east end. Also, for whoever is up for the CEN Total Body Wellness 2014 Challenge, bring $10 for a chance to win the pot. Be on the lookout for our new LOGO, and, as always, bring your work!
Attendees: Julie B. Erdman Diane Hillman Eva June Roberts-Vazquez Peter Tripodi Steve Balestrieri Tracy L. Corsano Peter Martens Mokesha Wyche Andy Diller Travis Lundwall Sue Parrinello Philip Algosino Daniel O'Hara Peter Mastropolo Tiffany Monti Kimberly Turner`
Amazing work shared! Thank you to all and welcome gifted artists, Steve and Peter T! Great to meet Tracy as well!
Attendees: Tiffany Monti Eva June Roberts-Vazquez
Diane Hillman Andrew Diller
Peter Mastropolo Karlie Lynn
David Lancaster Travis Lundwall
Tracie McCord Barbara Brummer
Mokesha Wyche Danny O'Hara
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Happy Equinox, everyone! Thank you to Mokesha and Diane for hosting and BIG thanks for facilitating, Mo! Meeting is early in April so we can organize for MIA Day in Southampton at the high school. Musicians, artists, and performers, get your work ready!
Juried Art Competition on March 28th