The Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center Presents Exhibition by the Hell's Kitchen Painters

An exhibition of oil paintings, charcoal drawings and collages by the Hell's Kitchen Painters is currently on display at Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center, a health facility dedicated to delivering excellent medical care to diverse and underserved communities.

The artists, primarily Upper West Siders and mostly seniors, have been meeting in a West Side studio for the past 15 years under the stewardship of Edla Cusick, artist and teacher. Works include still lives, landscapes, portraits and abstractions. Many of the works are laid on found surfaces - canvases or boards collected from the neighborhood. There are 51 works displayed in the sprawling, light-filled lobby of the Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center.

Why art at a health center? "It is part of our mission to serve a culturally diverse population and to do so in an environment that feels optimistic and therapeutic," said William Arboleda, Community Relations/AmeriCorps Coordinator. "This exhibit is an excellent example of that."

Artists include Alberte Bernier, Claire Bush, Rodolfo Diaz, Yvette Edelhart, Judy Eisenbach, Willie Hislop, Mikel Lambert, Jo Ann Rosen, Robert Shoales, Myra Sobel, Ching Valdez-Aran, Mary-Anne Wright, and Susan Zakaluk.

Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center, located at 645 Tenth Ave. (at 46th St.), is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8:30 am - 7 pm; Wednesday and Friday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. The exhibit will be on view until Feb 28th.