Some people bring a creative touch to everything they do. Coni Minneci is one of those individuals. She is a visual artist who produces collage and digital works but is first and foremost a very masterful painter.  She is also a tireless and inventive participant and supporter of her own arts community where she spearheads group exhibitions, teaches classes, organizes fundraisers and other board initiatives. Needless to say, many individuals have benefited from her involvement in their projects and organizations.

Coni Minneci, Untitled, photo-collage, digital print, 2009, from her series Home

Underlying all this energy is an unflappable and infectious positive attitude that carries her, and others, through every activity to successful completion.  We have included two short interview pieces with Coni, Home: A film with artist Coni Minneci and A to Z and Beyond.  Each piece describes a different series of her works.

As I was organizing an exhibition of her collage works, I gained a much deeper understanding about where this energy and positive attitude actually comes from. Home, was a collection of digital photo-collages that Coni had produced while she was helping her aging dad, Dan, move from their family home into an assisted living center. The pieces themselves were digitally scanned, hand-assembled images of her father’s family home juxtaposed with images form her current home.   She found this to be a therapeutic and productive outlet in dealing with the bittersweet emotions that emerged after her daily trips from one home to the other.  Most who deal with this responsibility find it emotionally taxing and Coni was no different. But she always added that because her Dad was so much fun to be around, he made it quite pleasant and, in fact, sometimes down right fun and entertaining.

I had planned to record an interview with her about her artwork to complement the exhibition. But she urged me to include footage of her dad, Dan, in this piece so that others could see what a wonderful person he was. And, she was right. Consequently, the interview became a film about the pieces she created but also about the inspiration behind the work – her dad. I hope you enjoy this film as much as we did making it. Dan is a force of nature – of the jovial sort.  He likes to sing familiar tunes but with the added twist of his own customized lyrics. It is a joy to be around him and it became very clear where Coni gets all her boundless energy and positive attitude.  The world is a far better place with these people in it.

If you would like to see a current and an upcoming exhibition of Coni Minneci’s artworks, check out the information below.