This past week, Zeta Omicron did what Zeta Omicron loves to do; we volunteered with a creative spin. Zeta Omicron is Marywood’s Art Honor Society. The club consists of all art majors who are both talented in the arts and succeed academically, with an overall 3.0 GPA and 3.5 Major GPA (or higher) required for membership. Our goal as a society is to leave our creative mark on Marywood and the surrounding community. This past week Zeta Omicron took a trip to the Holy Family Residence. Holy Family is a nursing home in Scranton located within Marywood’s Campus that provides patients with skilled nursing and private or shared accommodations.
A huge thank you to Ty Mah, Zeta member, photo major and fellow blogger, for capturing these events so beautifully through his pictures!
At Holy Family, Zeta Omicron hosted a Wine & Painting Night for the residents. Members of Zeta serve as the assistants to the residents with things like painting, mixing colors, and getting residents drinks or snacks. I am the instructor in the front of the space who provides a step-by-step process to make the picture of the night while showing the painting process along with each step. For this painting night, we painted pumpkins in honor of the fall season.
This is a great night for Zeta. Every time Zeta participates in a Holy Family Wine & Painting Night the members truly get so much out of it. We get to laugh at the sassy moments of the residents and we also get to appreciate their stories, as their are so many interesting things the residents have to say. Often times the residents love hearing about the Zeta members and truly care about what they are doing with their lives. Holy Family has sort of become Zeta Omicron’s adopted grandparents and we are truly grateful for that relationship.
Not only do the Zeta members work as assistants to provide a hand to the residents but the residents of Holy Family also teach the Zeta members as well. Often times we will have a resident attending this event who was a past artist but simply cannot yield anymore to the physical demands of art making. One of the residents this past wine and painting night grieved to me about the death of her sister who was a former resident of Holy Family. Her name was Judy and she was an incredible artist who always charmed people with her impressive portraits. I remember Judy when she would attend painting events. I remember her talent. As her sister continued the conversation with me, she explained she makes art now in order to remember Judy. I went on to say to her that Judy’s art is a way for her to still be known to all of those who miss her. And it’s true for everyone. Art has many functions and one of them is to remember loved ones or to serve as a memorial in some way. We all know that our bodies are not made to last forever and Zeta members are reminded of this when we work with Holy Family. Art, however, can last forever. Art is timeless.
