Passion For Art Inspired By Teacher

For the second year in a row, senior citizens from the are displaying their art work at the .

This year, however, they held a reception, giving teacher Florence Katz and her many talented students an opportunity to receive kudos and tell stories about their experiences painting watercolors. Friends came from as far away as Delaware, and the seniors, many of whom have only been painting for a few years and who range in age from 55 to 85, were full of compliments and appreciation for one another, particularly their teacher.

Katz, an enthusiastic, vibrant 80-year-old, said she had no idea eight years ago how teaching art would transform her life. An only child who inherited a furniture business from her father, Katz, who has two adult children, one of whom, a son, is also an art teacher at the senior center, spent most of her life as a businesswoman.

In her senior years, she ventured into sculpture, but health problems prevented her from applying herself to that medium. One day, she spontaneously asked if any art teachers were needed at the senior center. The immediate answer was yes, and it's been a resonating yes ever since, said Katz, as her many students, many of whom are Korean and Japanese, are as dedicated to their art as they are devoted to her.

“We miss one another when I go on vacation,” said Katz. “They are like my children.”

Like Katz herself, many of her students have had rich and colorful lives that are reflected in the vibrancy and attention to detail of the watercolors on display at the library. Rita Lenerz, for example, worked in administration at Columbia University, and, unlike many other students of Katz’s, studied watercolor years ago.

Artist Esther Hyun was once a concert pianist in South Korea. Donjoo Kim, who calls herself Doris III, as there are three Doris’s in Katz’s art class, gets ideas for her watercolors from magazine covers and religious images.

Susie Lukman, a 20-year Fort Lee resident, has only been studying watercolors for two-and-a-half years. She said she gets ideas for her landscapes and still life portraits from books and calendars, although her affection for the medium seems to come particularly from the experience of being a student of Katz’s.

An enthusiasm for the watercolor medium as for Katz is evident among all the artists, most of whom are women and as supportive of one another as they are of their art. The watercolor exhibit runs through the end of the month at the library.

Any senior citizen interested in classes or membership at the Richard A. Nest Senior Center can reach the center at 201-592-3655 or 201-592-3670.