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Art inspiration: Arc Human Services unveils Connecting Through Inspiration mural
CANONSBURG – When Samantha Cortese began painting as something to do during the pandemic four years ago, little did she imagine she’d be tapped to create a meaningful, larger-than-life work for an area nonprofit.
But on Wednesday, Cortese, a wife, mother of two and abstract artist from Washington, unveiled the Connecting Through Inspiration mural, commissioned by the nonprofit Arc Human Services in Canonsburg.
“I started just painting a little painting from my house, and then here I am, four years later, painting this mural for a business. I’m just blown away that I can create something that people want in their homes or their businesses,” Cortese said. “It’s the most fulfilling feeling to have something I’ve created influence people’s lives.”
The mural was designed to inspire, so it’s fitting that the piece is dazzling, a dance of blues with hints of orange – Arc’s colors – and a splash of purple, at Cortese’s whim, painted straight onto the wall of the nonprofit’s art gallery, a sleek, airy space filled with natural light on Arc’s first floor, behind the coffee shop Chicco Baccello.
A splash of gold leaf, a nod to the artist’s other works, shimmers in the gallery light, a fitting sparkle for an artwork that serves as a unique “thank you” to those who support Arc’s mission.
“The mural: it’s Connecting through Inspiration. We’re so inspired by the people we serve. They’re doing things out in the community, on their own, that people with disabilities have never had a chance to do. We wanted to create this inspiration piece to inspire people, especially around the art, which also inspires people,” said Ed Picchiarini, CEO of Arc Human Services.
Arc receives federal funding, but it’s the generosity of the community, Picchiarini said, that allows the nonprofit to do most of its advocacy work and keeps some of its services going.
The names of those businesses, organizations and individuals who give to Arc will be featured on the screen incorporated into the mural, as a thank-you from the nonprofit.
“They’re helping us to provide inspiration for the people we serve,” Picchiarini said.
Attendees to the mural unveiling last week took selfies with the artwork and the artist, and chatted with Cortese about her process. Cortese’s art has been featured in the Connecting Through Inspiration gallery, where it caught the attention of gallery curator Darrilyn McCrerey.
“We host people of all abilities, with, without disabilities, their artwork to sell and display,” said McCrerey, director of The Arc of Washington County. “Samantha has been an artist since we opened here. I just feel like she has a great vibe and she has a great outlook. Her artwork is amazing.”
McCrerey reached out to Cortese about a month before the mural unveiling; the two conceptualized the piece together and, after agreeing on a vision, Cortese completed the mural in about two weeks.
“It’s so different from doing canvas painting. With that, I have the luxury of, if I don’t like something, that’s fine: I just completely paint over it. I can flip a canvas, I can start over. With this, it had to be a lot more intentional, which was different for me. I normally work intuitively, I just kind of go off my feelings, where this was much more thoughtful and planned out. It was just an exciting process because we knew what we wanted it to be,” Cortese said.
This is her largest piece to date, and the first large-scale painting Cortese has worked on publicly.
“The first day it was very ugly, because it was just my base layers. It was all of the script paper and it was really just, like, it looked like paper glued onto a wall. People walked by and they were like, ‘That’s interesting.’ I was like, I promise it will look better. Just give me a couple days,” she laughed. “It was so nice because as I would progress each day, people kept coming in and they would see it and they’re like, wow, I can see the change from yesterday. That was fun, to know that there were people that were in here every day, kind of watching it progress.”
Picchiarini was one of those who had the honor of watching the mural come to life, paint stroke by paint stroke. He said over the course of the two weeks it took Cortese to finish the mural, he attended a few meetings in the conference room beside the artwork.
“When she first started, I was like, what is she doing? I mean, I trust her, but … it’s all white and then with some blue in there. That’s the thing about the artist’s mind: You never know what they’re really thinking,” he said. “It was really cool. It turned out wonderful. We’re just thrilled.”
Cortese was thrilled, too, to have the opportunity to create a large-scale artwork for a local nonprofit, as a way of giving back to the community.
“I’m most proud of the effect of it, I think,” she said. “It’s just very eye-catching. And that’s the goal for the wall, was to grab people’s attention, because then it calls their attention to Arc and to the sponsors. If my art can be a piece of helping people come in and be part of the organization, be part of helping people achieve their inspiration, that’s so meaningful to me.”
All are invited to admire the Connecting Through Inspiration mural, check out the sponsors wall of fame and visit the gallery itself during regular Arc and Chicco business hours. The mural and businesses are located at 111 W. Pike St.
For more information on Arc Human Services, including ways to get involved with the nonprofit’s art gallery, visit https://archumanservices.org/.
To learn more about Samantha Cortese, go to https://samanthacorteseart.com/, or follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/trialbypaint/.