Mike is an Arts Assistant, Instructor, and Fitness/Floor Staff at the Northwest Family YMCA branch. He works in the Arts Studio and wears many different hats around the branch, while also working at Camp during the summertime. He has been with us at the Y for 3 years and is simultaneously a local artist in the Syracuse area! He created an art piece that recreates our Y logo out of repurposed basketballs. It hangs up in the basketball courts at the Northwest branch. Mike sat down with us and told us about his Y story and his inspiration behind his art piece:
"I've worked in a business setting my whole life, I used to do office work for about 15 years. When Covid-19 happened, I got laid off. This gave me the opportunity to look for something new and find something more meaningful where I could build relationships and make a difference. I love art and I've been doing it for most of my life, about 20 years now. I ended up coming to the arts program at the Northwest Family YMCA. I've loved it ever since! I love to work with kids and inspire them, it's one of the many benefits of working here at the Y. I've been able to work here part-time while also concentrating on my artwork as well!"
"It can be tough being an artist, you not only have to put your work out there, but you also have to sell yourself. I've made a lot of connections through my art and social media, such as creating paintings for famous people and professional athletes, I do art shows all around Syracuse, and I have paintings that I've done that are hanging up in different businesses. Recently, I had an art show at the Upstate Cancer Center for example."
"As an artist, everything around me inspires me, such as nature and different things I see around me all the time. I'm always trying new styles as well! I try to pass down my knowledge to the kids here at the Y, and if any of them show an interest in art I try to help them which feels very fulfilling. Seeing the same kids at summer camp and watching their skills develop over time, I love to see that transformation and growth!"
"I used to do basketball practices here at the Y in the mornings, and in the back corner of the gym there were old basketballs that weren't being used and couldn't be used again. As an artist, you see someone's trash as your own treasure. I thought these would be great to repurpose and use them as material. Dave Sargalski, the Executive Director of the branch, approached me and asked if I could make a sign for the Y. This was the perfect opportunity to use this new material! I brought the basketballs home, found a large board to use and cut out the Y logo and cut up around 30 balls that turned into 1,000 individual pieces. I had to glue them on one by one and then put weight on each one of them. I would do around 40 pieces at a time and then let it dry. I repeated this process and it took around 2-3 weeks to complete! I was happy with the way it turned out. It's a real honor to have my artwork hanging up at the Y, and it's going to be there for years and years to come."