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The amazing Forlenza family's art show

Three generations to display works at Merrick Library

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Back in the day, Merokean Dan Forlenza, now 90, wanted to apply to The Cooper Union in Manhattan, considered among the most prestigious art, architecture and engineering schools in the country, with a minuscule acceptance rate. As was the case with most college applications, Cooper Union’s required an essay. Like so many young people who came of age during the Great Depression, however, Forlenza hadn’t traveled much beyond his childhood neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, so he didn’t think he had much to write about.

He remembered visiting an aunt upstate. It was among the few times that he had been outside of New York City, so he decided to write about the experience, hoping to seem worldlier. He remembered climbing a tree and watching white clouds pass overhead. He sat in wonderment as they formed dark shadows on the rural landscape below. That memory became his essay.

Forlenza described the experience as his “first plane ride.” Cooper Union’s admissions officers must have liked what he had to say. He got in.

So began a lifelong love affair with the arts that led to a more than 30-year career as an advertising art director in New York City and Lynbrook. In his retirement, Forlenza took up watercolor painting with his wife, Rita. Together, they created an annual art show, “The Forlenza Family Affair,” for the Merrick Public Library, which will be on display in the community room from Oct. 10 through the end of the month. A reception will be held on Oct. 25 from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

The show appeared at the library in 2012 and 2013 before taking a hiatus in 2014, when Dan was stricken with leukemia. In May this year, he was diagnosed with a malignant stomach tumor, which doctors removed in August. He is now cancer-free.

And, as they say, the show must go on.

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