By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
For more than 20 years, artist Edie Cohn has kept a collection of portraits safely stashed away in an acid-free box on a shelf in her Durham studio. Though she didn’t even know who the subjects of most of the portraits were, Cohn was sure that someday the renderings would mean something to the families of those depicted.
Cohn drew the portraits in the early 1980s during a life-drawing class at The ArtsCenter, then located in Carr Mill Mall. She was in charge of finding models for the class, and grew tired of drawing the same types of models every week.
“I was just sort of bored of drawing skinny models,†she said, so she contacted the members of the Meet Your Neighbor Club, a group of seniors that also met in Carr Mill.
The older models, paid $2 for their time, were “still as can be – an artist’s dream,†Cohn said, and provided a nice change of pace.
“I just really like old people, and I was interested in drawing them,†Cohn said. “There’s so much character in their faces, and there’s not an expectation that they have to be smiling and happy. They’re just themselves.â€
Cohn’s observations are evident in her artwork, which depicts smiling, scowling, stoic and smug subjects of all colors. Over time, she drew more than 80 members of the club using charcoal, pen and ink, pastels and oil paints, and some of those portraits are now on display at an exhibit at the Seymour Center for Seniors.
Cohn initially showed the portraits in an exhibit titled “Strength of Character†at Carr Mill Mall in 1985, and has reprised that show in hopes of finding the portrait subjects or their families. Of the 80 subjects, Cohn has the names of 35, but still has only been able to find about 15 families.
“A lot of the African-American families are still here,†she said, adding that the families of the white people in her portraits have been harder to find.
Cohn has been working with community leaders “that know their communities and know their history†to find the families. She’s brought the list of names to churches and community centers to find someone who recognizes a name. The show at the Seymour Center has had some successes too – center regular Evelyn Thompson recognized her portrait in the exhibit during a recent visit.
The show at the Seymour Center will come down the morning of Dec. 3, and at 10 a.m. on Dec. 11 Cohn will meet with portrait subjects and family members at the Seymour Center to give them the portraits. The Seymour Center is located at 2551 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.
After the show, Cohn will continue her search by hanging posters with a collage of the portraits in nursing homes, churches and health centers.
“I just want to give them away,†she said. “I kept these all these years, and I knew the whole time that they would be special to the families.â€
To view some of the drawings, visit Cohn’s website, ediecohn.com, and click on the Senior Citizens button.
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