- April 29, 2024
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In the storeroom of the Artful Codgers lies a collection of items that may strike some as arbitrary — pistachio nut shells, wooden boxes, unwanted fabrics and a pile of letters from a donated clock.
While artist Eileen Pease leads the class, held for the Christian retirement community of Sunnyside Village, even she often doesn't what will come of the materials she keeps on hand. What she said she does know, is that sooner or later, the purpose will become clear.
“I think it’s all treasure,” said Pease.
After all, that's how it has worked out in the past. When the projects, which use mainly repurposed materials, first begin, they may be less than aesthetically pleasing, Pease said. Yet the end result is creations that bring joy to the group, and often the wider community.
For instance, when group members began work on a large collective project, the Fairy Village, in April 2023, they didn’t know where they were headed.
Yet after two-and-a-half months of work, the 4-by-5-foot board hosted a house built around a teapot, castle walls of peanut shells, a roof of eggshells and a building with a candy wrapper door, all linked by roads of ground coffee, with many more details to explore.
Pease is so proud of the elaborate display that she's helping take it on a tour of the community, with Colonial Oaks Baptist Church having just hosted the project. While she may have brought everyone together to create the village, she said it took a village to achieve the results.
“Whatever we do is our project,” she said. “I can't claim it. Not any one of us can claim these projects, because we do them.”
Members of the group said they enjoy coming together each Tuesday to create among those with different artistic styles, while finding a purpose for unwanted objects and for their own time as well.
“It teaches us how to make things out of nothing,” said Mary Ann Scholten, who is the oldest active member at 96.
"It just keeps you busy, and everybody is unique and has their own way of doing things," said member Jim Ferri.
Yet the effort isn’t confined to the group members themselves, but also involves others in the community, who pitch in by donating items.
“I can’t tell you how many people give us stuff,” said Pease.
Residents offer everything from bottle caps to shells, with a box of donations arriving at least once a week, while group members pitch in with their own items, such as when member Patti Kelly repeatedly provides her coffee grounds.
It appears that since the group's founding in 2020, the effort has been paying off, with a wide range of projects now adorning the art room. As visitors enter the studio, they will be greeted by a door wreath they may not notice is a paper plate with coffee filter flowers.
Inside, they may find Grandpa Blessing, the group’s full-size puppet, alongside sock puppets Shelley, Polka Dot, Crusty, and Toothful. The puppets were made for a clown ministry in the community, which visits the community's Health and Rehabilitation Center. On the wall hangs a Memorial Day wreath.
If the room and its colorful characters look inviting, perhaps it’s a result of the positive feelings the group members bring to their work, regardless of their artistic background.
“We’re told it doesn’t matter,” said member Patti Kelly regarding the members' experience in art. “It’s really, really helpful, mentally, too. If we’re feeling sad about something, it takes our mind right off of it, having the camaraderie here with everybody.”
Pease said many members of the group have major health problems, but based on the high spirits in the room, you’d never know.
While the members bring the cheerful demeanor, Pease brings the experience to guide the members.
Pease had been interested in recycling-based art long before founding the Artful Codgers, hosting another group in Sarasota in the early 2000s to about 2008.
Her inspiration comes from her childhood. Growing up without a great deal of money, she would cut paper dolls from a Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog or boats from wrapping paper.
“It’s just amazing the things she dreams up to make,” said member Rita Schwanke.
The projects the group has produced under Pease's leadership are extensive.
They include the first group project, a castle; a Thanksgiving turkey; neuropathic art (abstract designs, where no two lines are the same, glued to the bottoms of glass plates); 40 washcloths shaped into small teddy bears for the community’s assisted living facility, Sunnyside Manor and memory care community Shepherd’s Landing; and miniature cityscapes made of sticks from the lawn.
They’ve even managed to sell items, including the turkey, a picture comprising multiple drink coasters, and stuffed cats, which have proven to be a success with a nursing home resident, and which they are working to make more of in the future.
“Everybody here wants to get into her class,” said member Vanny Jones. “She performs miracles. I want to get up and just touch her, because I want a little bitty bit of talent to get transferred to me.”
One of Pease's current priorities is to place the Fairy Village permanently. While she said she’d love to see it in a museum, in the meantime, she''ll keep bringing it to local churches and hopes to take it to schools.
As far as the faith-based aspect of the group goes, she said she hopes that she can share the lesson of the class: That whatever may not appear worthwhile — or whoever may feel that way — still possesses a great purpose.
