Celebrating the arts in Valley Stream

Valley Stream artist Mike Stanko was once inspired to paint by the two vending machines at Firemen’s Field, he said. Whether he was stricken by the beauty of the red lights of the Coca-Cola dispenser against snow-covered baseball diamonds or the grilled cheese sandwich he had for lunch, Stanko said he loves to share his paintings and prints that are influenced by his hometown.

“My work is inspired by everyday life, and Valley Stream has been a big part of that,” he said. “There is lots of creativity here, and it is important that the community comes together to display and celebrate art.”

Stanko and other artists, students and vendors participating in this year’s Art in the Park and Boutique Craft Fair said the event gives them the chance to share their creations and appreciate other’s work under the summer sun.

The event was held for the second time last Saturday on the Village Green, and is sponsored by Envision Valley Stream. David Sabatino, the group’s president, said this year’s exhibition once again featured work produced by professionals and students from all three elementary school districts and Memorial Junior High School.

“The art was spectacular,” he said. “It is inspiring to look at how beautiful some of the work is. There is a lot of diversity out there, which is great to see.”

Abdul Badi, a Brooklyn-based painter who participated in Art in the Park for the first time this year, said he is proud of the cultural diversity of his work. Badi said his paintings are primarily realistic portraits of the people of third world countries similar to photographs he looked at in the pages of National Geographic when he was a child.

“There are places where my type of art – or any type of art, really – does not exist,” he said. “You have to mix it up, because that is what America is about. There’s a lot of different stuff here today. I can’t put a finger on it, but it’s a unique show.”

This year’s exhibition also drew artists from across Long Island. Aniello Panetta, who currently lives in Farmingdale, decided to show several of his landscape paintings. The 93-year-old artist who formerly did combat photography for branches of the military and continued to paint after retiring and having a small stroke, said the Valley Stream event had a community-based feel. “The locals who came out seemed enthused about it” he said. “I enjoyed talking to them about what I love to do.”

Valley Streamers and other who attended Art in the Park this year also had the chance to purchase handmade crafts from dozens of vendors. According to Annette Gray, who has helped organize craft fairs at local schools and decided to get involved with Art in the Park this year, said approximately 75 vendors signed up for space on the Village Green this year.

Gray said she is glad she joined forces with Envision Valley Stream to expand the fair and bring this type of cultural affair to her community. “I love this atmosphere,” she said. “We wanted to bring people out from behind closed doors and get them outside to see all of these great things.”

Products on sale included crocheted clothing, glass-formed jewelry, handmade greeting cards, butterfly art, handmade organic soaps, spin-art T-shirts, crafted wood creations, handmade jewelry and gourmet dog treats. Mayor Ed Fare, who said he would love to see more displays of community art, said it looked like there were three times as many vendors in 2011 than in there were last year.

Some participating locals said Art in the Park was a way to bring neighbors and family members together. Sandie Adelson-Seyfried, a member of Envision Valley Stream, sold handmade shell necklaces and floral headbands next to her daughter Hayley’s photography display.

“I think this is something Valley Stream should be proud of,” she said. “We need to learn and experience all different things to be well-rounded people. Without the arts in our lives, we would be missing something.”