By Tameeka Ford
In honor of Worldwide Ladies’s Day, Age Pleasant Central Brooklyn, Inc. (AFCBI), Meeting Member Stefani L. Zinerman and Emergesoul Wellness Boutique celebrated the ladies of Meditation, Artwork, and Storytelling (M.A.S) collective on the Macon Library. Their stunning self-care quilt of 35 squares of artwork expressing love, emotion, and poetry was showcased adopted by an artist speak.
“It was a real honor to acknowledge and rejoice the uncompromising spirit and resiliency of the ladies of Age Pleasant Central Brooklyn throughout our Ladies’s Historical past Month program,” acknowledged Meeting Member Stefani L. Zinerman. “The exhibit of their quilt-making and storytelling impressed lots of of individuals through the pandemic and continues to provide on. Could we observe their lead and use our items to beat adversity, uncertainty, and life’s challenges to convey magnificence, peace, and therapeutic to the world.”
The curator of the occasion and M.A.S participant, Mrs. Willie Banner opened up the exhibit by sharing her expertise with the challenge and spoke about her quilt panel, stating, “the picture of my quilt panel represents hugging my household once more after not embracing my kids and 92 12 months previous mom for over two years as a consequence of Covid-19.”
M.A.S is a quilting, therapeutic, and oral historical past artwork challenge born from a imaginative and prescient of two ladies’s concern for different ladies’s well being, wellness, self-care, and self-love. Impressed by Audre Lorde’s assertion, “Caring for myself just isn’t self-indulgence, it’s self-preservation, and that’s an act of political warfare.” Tameeka Ford, MSW, proprietor of Emergesoul Wellness Boutique and senior chair yoga information in collaboration with Harlem-based artist Elvira Clayton co-facilitated a nine-week digital therapeutic journey. The challenge engaged 25 senior ladies, members of Age Pleasant Central Brooklyn, Inc, between the ages of 62-75+ to share their tales and inventive expression of self-care, self-love, and self-empowerment. The group practiced numerous types of meditation to open up their artistic pathway and launch stress and pressure. They attended digital journeys to museums and quilt reveals, and shared tales by no means instructed. Undertaking Artist, Elvira Clayton, taught the group in regards to the historical past of quilting in Black communities because it was used as a way for storytelling, preserving cultural traditions, and alerts to escaping slaves.
Elvira acknowledged, “the M.A.S group artwork quilt displays how self-care practices may result in optimistic modifications for the challenge’s individuals and their communities.”
M.A.S individuals and AFCBI Ambassador, Ms. Velvet Corridor spoke candidly about her expertise with the challenge and her self-care practices since collaborating within the group. She shared, “…this challenge got here on the proper time in my life, it was very therapeutic.” Religion, Therapeutic, Pleasure, Love, Self-Care are phrases that superbly adorn Ms. Corridor’s quilt panels.
The Heritage Room overflowed with older grownup ladies who expressed honest adoration for the quilt and listened attentively as every participant shared their journey and self-care practices. Attendees requested questions of the M.A.S individuals and requested for a brand new M.A.S challenge to start to allow them to be part of!!
Justice Dweynie E. Paul, Supervising Choose of Kings County Civil Court docket was the visitor speaker for the occasion and closed out the occasion sharing perception on womanhood, self-determination and constructing household legacy. “Kudos to Meeting Member Stefani L. Zinerman and Age Pleasant of Central Brooklyn for an distinctive program! What an effective way to rejoice Worldwide Ladies’s Day,” acknowledged Justice Dweynie E. Paul. “The nationwide theme for Ladies’s Historical past Month is ‘celebrating ladies who inform our tales’. This exhibit will fill the spirit, soothe the soul, and heat the center. The ladies captured and preserved our wealthy tales and historical past by the artwork of quilting. It was an entire honor to take part within the opening day of the exhibit and add my mom’s story to the tapestry of artwork.”
Tameeka Ford, M.A.S co-founder, offered last remarks stating, “this occasion and the M.A.S challenge is about inspiring older adults into motion to dwell extra totally. We want your presence, your knowledge, and your love flowing by our group. It’s our need that you just and the quilt will proceed to spark dialog about lively getting old, self-care and therapeutic.”
The M.A.S Quilt is on a journey all through Brooklyn and past displaying the sensation of Love, Loss, Happiness, and Solidarity. The journey started on the historic Restoration in Could 2022 and it has visited area people occasions. Will probably be on exhibit at Macon Library for all the month of March, then heading to The Brooklyn Quilting Guild.
The M.A.S collective continues to fulfill weekly through Zoom for reflection and meditation; older adults 62 and older are welcome to hitch.
If you understand somebody that want to have the M.A.S QUILT displayed at a potential occasion or wish to be part of our meditation group, contact secretary@agefriendlycb.org.