Shelter in Place: Watercolor and Drawings by Eugene Salandra
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 1, 2024, 5pm-8pm

In Spring of 2020, the COVID pandemic was spreading around the world. During March that year, it descended here in the United States. Much information, and misinformation, was swirling about. We were told to solate. Keep away from others. Sanitize everything. Wipedown surfaces. Wash our hands. Wear masks. Shelter in place! This was challenging and painful enough for most of us, but what of those among us who had no place to shelter? No place to isolate? No means to sanitize and wash? No place to etsupper except the nearest garbage bin? What were they expected to do? How were they expected to live through this threat that seemed serious enough to cause our entire society to grind to a screeching halt? Eugene Salandra hopes that his modest watercolors and drawings of our unhoused sisters and brothers might inspire reflection. Proceeds from the sale of artwork in this exhibit will be donated to organizations that work to support the unhoused, such as Covenant House and the Ali Forney Center.

Eugene Salandra is an Italian-American native of New Jersey. He earned his BFA in Film and Television at New York University and studied classical figure drawing at the Art Students’ League of New York. He has worked for over three decades as an animation artist in television, film, and the internet, primarily for Disney. His style and approach have been influenced by mentors John Canemaker and the late Tissa David. Among his interests are watercolor, music, theater, puppetry, crochet, herbalism, and cooking. Since 2017, he has sung baritone with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. He also spent some time as a Benedictine monk.