Press Releases
For Humanities / Poetry Programs
Art Exhibit
Verona Barrett exhibited a knack for art at a young child. Her German grandfather was a painter, and her father encouraged Barrett to consider a career as an artist. Although she studied art and took painting classes at the Manayunk Art Center in the 1960’s, Barrett pursued a career in nursing instead. A resident of Roxborough, Barrett worked as a nurse and then healthcare case manager while she raised two daughters as a single parent.

Artist: Verona K. Barrett
Title: Art Museum and Water Works
Medium: watercolor
“I like to help people. I like to give,” Barrett said, explaining the 40 year she took hiatus from her art. She says that with work, she really did not have the time to paint.
Philadelphia resident Aaron Kalinay’s acrylic paintings demonstrate the acute sensitivity to color and composition that mark a continuity in his personal vision. Some of his representational works might – at a glance – seem like conventional landscapes, but closer examination reveals Kalinay’s talent for conveying emotional complexity. He will exhibit approximately twenty-five paintings in “Environments Real & Imagined”.
Artist: Aaron Kalinay
Title: "Mindscape"
The foreground of “Home Journey” is dominated by an asphalt roadway that extends past an angular, white house and ends at a cluster of houses, nestled under a foliage-laden hillock. The narrowing road seems to serve as both a conduit to nostalgia and an intrusion on it. “Glow” depicts a forest setting where filtered light conveys tranquility while elongated trees, singly and in pairs, are tilted just enough to be somewhat less than concerting. The artist has positioned the trees to suggest a path that trails off into an obscured background, and wisps of hanging moss or vines depend from the their leafy tops, which converge in competition for sunlight.
For more information, call 215-482-3363 or go to www.manayunkartcenter.org.
Humanities / Poetry
CONTACT: PETER KROK
Humanities Director of the Manayunk Art Center, at 215-482-3363
To register for the Poetry Workshops, click here
The Manayunk Art Center (MAC) at 419 Green Lane (rear) presents “Two Compelling Poets - Deborah Burnham and Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno: The Human Spirit and the Heart” on Sunday, March 7 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Donation and refreshments available. The program will be followed by an Open Reading. For information, call the MAC at 215-482-3363.
Katheleen Sheeder Bonanno is an award-winning author and poet who received the Beatrice Hawley Award for her book of poetry, Slamming Open the Door, published by Alice James Books in April, 2009 and is the #9 best-seller for contemporary poetry in 2009. Slamming Open the Door is a collection of poems recounting the true story of the murder of her daughter, Leidy Bonanno, in 2003.
Bonanno's heartrending collection inspires both compassion for and awe of the human spirit. Of all the losses we may be asked to bear, the murder of one’s child must be the most terrible. These poems evoke that keenly, seeking justice but transcending judgment as they grieve loss, celebrate love, and find healing.
Bonanno's heartrending collection inspires both compassion for and awe of the human spirit. Of all the losses one may be asked to bear, the murder of one’s child must be the most terrible. These poems evoke that keenly, seeking justice but transcending judgment as they grieve loss, celebrate love, and find healing.
Deborah Burnham has worked at the University of Pennsylvania mostly doing advising and teaching in the English department. For over 25 years, she taught poetry at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts. She lives in a more or less un-gentrified neighborhood in Philadelphia where she has created several gardens. Her book Anna and the Steel Mill won the First Book Award from the Texas Tech University Pres. Her most recent publication is a chapbook, Still.
At the MAC on Sunday, March7 from noon to 3 PM, there is also an art show opening entitiled: “Environments Real & Imagined” featuring Verona Barrett and Aaron Kolinay
Peter Krok, the Humanities Director of the MAC, started his literary afternoon series at the MAC in the fall of 1990. There is a $4 donation and, of course, refreshments are provided. For information about the program, call the MAC at 215-482-3363.