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Thanks so much to everyone that came to the opening of ‘Night Garden’ with Inna Babaeva, Heather Bursch, Braxton Congrove, Priscilla Fusco, Jaye Kim, cyriaco lopes, Keisha Prioleau-Martin, Heidi Norton, and Rob Raphael.  @innababaeva @heatherbursch9 @sisipaintscats @braxtoncongrove @prosciutto__fusco @jaye_kim_ @cyriacolopes @keishaprioleaumartin @heidi_norton @ornamentalrob curated with Leonora Loeb and Jesus Polanco’s solo show, ‘Some Distances Between Two Points’ curated by Jared Deery and Matrix Art Projects. A big thank you to Paola Gallio and Johnny for your support. @paolagallio @tvprojects.bk @leonoraloeb @jareddeery
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My father passed away recently. He was a volunteer firefighter starting in New Hyde Park where he was raised and eventually when my mother and father moved to East Meadow he became a volunteer firefighter there for the next many years of his life before passing. He spent his whole life dedicated to being a volunteer firefighter as well as a Court Officer and then moving over to Family Courts in Mineola, Long Island, New York. My father was apart of the East Meadow Meadowlarks Drill Team. They were pretty iconic at the time when I was growing up and were even featured in ABCs Wide World of Sports in the early 80s. They were a great drill team and watching them from the stands was truly magnetic when I was growing up (I can now reflect on). These were extremely dangerous games where volunteer firefighters all across Long Island competed in racing events. They raced cars so fast with hardly any protective gear in the hopes they’d win at the “C” Hose, Efficiency, Motor Pump, Buckets, Individual Ladder, Running Ladder, etc… My birth was quite interesting. I grew up in East Meadow, Long Island, N.Y. and was born on August 24th 1980. My mother @janelongabardi went in labor at one of the East Meadow Firefighter Drill Team events. You see; not only did my mother go into labor with me at these drill team events but I spent most of my early childhood at drill practices and races. I remember so clearly my father as an ex Marine being driven to get every step of the process right with his team. My best friend growing up (and still to this day) @christopherm00 father was also on the team (his father is the driver in the last picture) and together they competed in such high stakes games where you could easily be erased off the planet if you made one wrong move. Thankfully I never saw anyone pass away but have seen as a young boy firefighter’s seriously injured at these games. But what I do I remember most about them was the joy, humility, friendship, exhaust and work that was put into each event. I remember the endless supply of the hot dogs, hamburgers, Budweiser but most of all camaraderie amongst not only the team members but the families who supported them.
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