Last week, the Woodhaven Residents' Block Association held their first Art Expo and it was an unqualified success.  There were a lot of smiles, a lot of good vibes and energy and there will definitely be another.  Let's start this off with a video from Mr. Woodhaven:

It was a long day, but a rewarding one.  A lot of people expressed surprise that we had so many talented artists in our community -- I think we saw just the tip of the iceberg.  For every Woodhaven artist that participated, I'm betting there's dozens more.  We gathered at Emanuel Church in the morning and began setting up.  

We were hoping for a good turnout as we'd gotten great press in the Leader Observer, The Forum, and the New York Daily News:

The extremely fine work of the talented crew of Beaver Tattoo was on display --

Here are some beautiful paintings, many of them of local sights, by Chris and Lynn Whiting -- 

Woodhaven's legendary Joe Virgona displayed some of his beautiful photography -- he has some beautiful pictures of the Carousel, the Golf Course, and scenic spots all over Woodhaven. 

The very talented Jose Moya brought some of his stunning works of Woodhaven and the surrounding areas.  That's a self-portrait of Jose standing in Popp's.

Some more of Jose's work -- such an amazing talent.

Ari Phoenix brought a collection of her drawings and other types of drawings -- another outstanding talent.

Woodhaven's Jerry Murphy brought a collection of his paintings -- what a creative imagination!

The super talented Madeline Lovallo, famous for her painting of Lewis of Woodhaven, brought some lovely pieces of art, including one of our beloved carousel and Oak Ridge.  Go to her website to view more of her work.   

We were very honored to have the very cool and talented Gigi Chen -- click here to view more of her work.

Assemblyman Mike Miller came out to enjoy the work --

From Left to Right, Jerry Murphy, Gigi Chen, Shakira from Beaver Tattoo, Jose Moya, Madeline Lovallo, Josephine Wendell and Assemblyman Mike Miller.  Here's another video -- a cool mashup of the Art Expo and a concert that was held at Emanuel 2 days later -- a concert by Voices of Victory, a Gospel Choir from St. John's University.  The song is by Bob Marley and it makes for a happy, feel good video, which describes the art show to a T.

And, as "curator" of the exhibit, I had the privilege of displaying some work of my own choosing, notably 1 piece by my late Father (the fisherman) --

2 pieces of mine that attracted some nice attention were two old familiar faces -- you might recognize them :-)

I love to paint -- it's very relaxing; but I'm just a painter -- the rest of these folks are artists.  They are all very talented and we were very grateful for their participation.