Art Exhibit Opening

MICKY’S ONE-MAN ART EXHIBIT OPENING
May 6, 1995 — Renaissance Art Gallery, Strafford, PA

It was REALLY GREAT!!!!!!!!! His art truly needs to be seen in person to
really appreciate the depth of his talent for capturing the “unseeable”.
Ten of Micky’s original works were included in the show, including OH-NO
ZONE and SOLAR FLARE.

The ambiance of the show was laid back, comfortable. Almost as if it
was just some close friends coming over to visit (for the most part).
Micky was relaxed, and so happy to see everyone there.

The gallery opened about 5 minutes before 10AM and they allowed the
assembled supporters in to view the artwork before Micky arrived. (He
was interviewed for local radio just before the curator picked him up.)
He showed up shortly after that. And he looked genuinely surprised to
see everyone there. After a few minutes of milling around with
the other guests, Micky was standing next to me. I figured this
would be an appropriate time to make our presentation to him.

(Background note: I had taken our floral arrangement up to the gallery
on Friday afternoon. Colm (the curator) kept it fresh
for us and had it placed strategically on a table next to the area where
Micky was going to be inscribing the lithographs of his work OH-NO
ZONE.)

I showed Micky the arrangement, and handed him the cards and the
letter, saying that all of us out here in Cyberspace were wishing him our
sincerest Congratulations. He seemed VERY surprised to see the flowers,
and started reading the notes right then. He seemed puzzled for a
moment, then said “These are e-mail notes? And you printed them on these
beautiful cards?”. At my nod, he said thank you and
just kept looking at the notes. He then smiled and turned as another
supporter presented him with another gift.

There was a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer there, doing a story
about Micky and the art exhibit. After our presentation, he came up to
me and interviewed me as part of the story. He asked how I knew about
the show, when I started watching The Monkees, how long I’d been a fan,
how I was involved these days … and about a kazillion other questions.
I did mention both a.m.m and the mailing list in my responses . He
told me when to look for the story (Monday’s entertainment section).

Micky and I spoke later in the morning. I asked him about the
arrangement. He smiled brightly and responded “It’s beautiful.” I then
asked him if he knew what it represented. He looked at me quizzically,
looked at the flowers, and then back at me. I raised my copy of OH-NO
ZONE … he looked at it and back to the flowers and recognition dawned.
“That’s my painting.” he said. “How’d you do that?”, he smiled. I
explained that I have this friend who’s a florist and we designed it
together. “That’s very creative” he responded. “Thank you very much
for all you’ve done” he said.

(Background note: I worked with my florist friend,
and we designed an arrangement using fresh cut flowers that echoed the
colors and the basic form in his painting.)

I had to leave then, but he seemed genuinely surprised by our gift.
Thanks to everyone who participated … it wouldn’t have been possible
without your support.

Zan