Grace Senior Morandi, Donald McCloskey, Ileana Miquilena at Kissimmee City Hall

Osceola Arts - Art in Public Places at Kissimmee City Hall presents artists -Grace Senior Morandi, Donald McCloskey, and Ileana Miquilena. These local artists share a love of using mixed media in their work. Their joyful compositions are on display from November 10 through December 30.

Grace Senior Morandi

Colombian born Grace Senior Morandi has studied with great teachers in the USA, South America, Europe, and Mexico. Her artwork is displayed in private collections in the US, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Greece, Panama, Puerto Rico, India, Scotland, and Spain. She states,” I am not a realistic painter, but I keep some realism in creating the compositions. I understand Art as the expresión of my inner feelings, not a copy of existing objects. In my opinion, Art is a way of transforming objects into feelings and color expresses moods and emotions”. Facebook @GraceSeniorMorandi

Donald McCloskey

Donald McCloskey born and raised in New York City. He moved to sunny Florida in 2004 after all the stress and anxiety of the 9/11 attacks as he lived a few blocks from the Twin Towers and was outside when they fell. He suffered damage to his leg, but other much worse physical issues were yet to come. After this traumatic experience, he felt motivated to return to his artistic side. He relocated to Orlando where he attended Valencia College for an Arts degree, including taking classes at Crealde Art School and McRae Art Studios. His artistic content focuses on nature and abstract themes. "I enjoy working with paper, oil, acrylic, pastel, and mixed media. The process of taking a magazine and manipulating it, tearing and creating a beautiful flower arrangement or a landscape, or maybe mixing oil with wax and letting the palate knife take charge excites me. I dabble in many different mediums and enjoy learning something new whenever possible. It takes me away from the stress of the times and puts me into another world of peace and tranquility. I feel the brush scraping the canvas and it relaxes me, except when I’m in a painting frenzy!" Facebook: (@DonaldMcCloskeyart) www.instagram.donald_mccloskey/

Ileana Miquilena

Ileana Miquilena was born in Caracas, Venezuela, into an artistic family, which allowed her to experience painting, dance, theater, and poetry from an early age. She is a graduate from the Escuela Superior de Artes Escenicas Juana Sujo and during her last years in Venezuela, she worked on religious iconography on wood, tabernacles, and painting on canvas. She is also an activist for human rights and a member of an NGO, which provides assistance to political prisoners and support to their families, activism that she now continues from the United States, where she has lived since 2014. With organic shapes and figurative elements, where religious themes are often present, her work seeks the exaltation of spirituality over the material. Facebook @IleanaMiquilena