First Person Arts

Chris Paquette, who presented at the May 14th Salon at the Gershman Y writes:

After 30 years of amateur photography, I had never presented my work in
front of a live audience. In March, I purchased a ticket to the Lost
Diane Arbus event sponsored by First Person Arts. While on FPA’s
website, I noticed the call for submissions for their Salons, a monthly
memoir and documentary art presentation held at the Gershman Y. I
decided to give it a shot and submitted my proposal to present my series
of Roadside Memorial photography

To my surprise (and terror) I got a call from Dan Gasiewski, asking if I
wanted to present my work at the May Salon. Of course I said yes, and
began getting ready, all the while feeling a low level panic and dread
setting in for several weeks leading up to the night of my salon.

I can honestly say that from the moment I entered the Gershman Y on the
night of May 14th , I felt an immediate sense of calm and ease.
Everyone there was warm and friendly. Andrew Schwalm has a relaxed laid
back personality that must be contagious because it spread right through
the room. Nick Gilewicz helped me load my IBM based images onto his Mac,
which turned out to be a very tough task that went right down to curtain
time. As soon as I started my presentation the audience was fully
engaged and attentive, and remained so throughout the night for all of
the artists.

Speaking of artists, all of the other presenters that night were
wonderful. A joy to be with and get to know, and they all gave very
powerful performances. I am now looking forward to following the
artistic paths of each of them.

First Person Arts Salons…. Highly recommended to both artists and art
lovers!

Thanks Chris! You can see Paquette’s work at his blog: chpaquettephotos.blogspot.com

Bookmark it now and check back often!

You can find out more about the Salons and how to apply at salons.firstpersonarts.org

The next salon is June 11th from 7-9 pm. Keep your eyes peeled for details!