Paint The Town Red

Location: H.O.M.E. – Pat Crowley House

Date: Sunday, February 24, 2013; 2:30-4:30 pm

Through the various programs that I have done with Chicago Cares, I have been extremely fortunate to meet some remarkable people.  This is especially true for programs with seniors, and I have loved my time at Lakeview Nursing, Imperial and other places.  However, nowhere have I enjoyed a project like I did over here.  I think the main reason for this is the setting.  While Pat Crowley was the farthest north that I have had to travel, it is a very pleasant place to do a project.  This is because unlike a Nursing facility, this is an assisted living residence for seniors, and is very much like a house.  The activity place was not some big area, but rather like family dining room.  It was very cozy and homely and thus, very welcoming. 

It was a fair walk from the train station and I arrived at the same time as another volunteer, Rachel.  I was pleasantly surprised to be shown to the above mentioned room and we had just settled in when Wilson arrived.  Apparently this is another one of his regular programs.  Soon Mary, our Volunteer leader for the day arrived as well.  I had worked with her the previous Sunday and so we knew each other.  We were joined by one of the residents, Cynthia, who welcomed us and was quite engaging to talk with.  Other residents started to filter in and we had Jane, Mabel and Annabelle.  Also with us were Jane’s daughter and grandson.  We all gathered around the dining table and Mary told us that we were going to be decorating picture frames. 

My Rainbow

Cynthia's frame

We started by putting a protective table cover, one of those things which was stained with colors, showing that a lot of projects and activities had been done on it.  Brilliant!  Mary had gotten several colors, including some glitter paint of various shades.  Since there weren't enough picture frames, we gave them to the residents and the volunteers started painting on paper.  I decided to make cards and for my first effort, started  reproducing the colors of a rainbow, taking some liberties with indigo.  I then delved into the glitter paint and realized that those presented some interesting possibilities.  All of the resident ladies had done a fantastic job with their frames. Annabelle was not painting on a frame, but on her own sketch book.  I was not surprised to learn she used to be an art teacher for her painting was truly remarkable.  I had moved on to my next project, for which I was just going to use a clear coat of glitter paint.  Next to me, Cynthia had started her work on paper and when I asked what she was intending to do, she responded, “Let’s see where the color’s take me”.

Jane's frame

Perhaps it was because of the coziness of the setting, but we were chatting quite a bit.  Annabelle is a devout church going Catholic and we discussed religion for some time.  Then Wilson told the ladies about AIC and when I prompted, made the same Chinese lantern as we had done the previous week - in less than five minutes!  I told them about Therese’s art piece from PADS auction, which led to a discussion on homelessness. We could well have been friends having tea together.  I was having a great time and could have easily stayed  for several hours. 

My version of 'Starry Night'

Before we left, we were joined by another resident, Andrew.  In fact, Andrew’s room was right next to the dining area where we were chatting and to his credit he did not complain that we had disturbed him.  Andrew is a very sharp guy and not only did he ask my name, he wanted to know where I worked, what I did and where I had come from.  He was carrying a sketch book with him, because he is an artist and we saw some lovely pencil work.  He told me that although he wanted to be an artist, he also had to pay the bills and thus had worked at Motorola for a long time.  He had then gone on to become a security guard, but never gave up on sketching, caricatures being his specialty. 

Time was almost up and I looked at all the things we had created.  By far, this was the most talented group of ‘artists’ that I had encountered through Chicago Cares.  I was genuinely happy to have come and when Cynthia asked if I would return, I said, “Most definitely”.  I was taken aback when she said, “God bless you”, because while we - the volunteers - do not feel that we are doing a great service by conducting these projects, it really means a lot to the residents.  Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of how important our work is for these people. 

Rachel's painting: Back in her old office

I took the bus home with Rachel and was surprised to learn that she once had worked in the exact same office building that I was currently in, and on the same floor as well.  She was going to throw away the artwork she had made and I said if that was the case, I would like to keep it.  The next day I took a picture of that in the office, against the backdrop she used to see from the window, and sent it to her.  It is indeed a small world and her painting had made it back to her old office.  And boy, did it have a great story to tell of a fabulous afternoon. 

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy