DECEMBER 2007 ONLINE EDITORIALS
Art Trek: A Tribute to Amelia Caruso
By Maggie Kunze
Welcome to my second column! I want to tell you about an extraordinary artist friend who has gone through more trials than most of us can even imagine. If you know the art scene in Fort Collins, I am sure you recognize the name of Amelia Caruso. She is larger than life, literally, and has a heart bigger than I can explain. In the relatively short time that she has lived here, she has given more to this community than many long-time residents!
Recently, Amelia found out that she had uterine cancer. I can’t even imagine what you go through when you get that kind of news. She had surgery in September and has gone through an excruciating bout of chemo. It has made her weak, tired and pretty much unable to work. So many of her friends and patrons put on a fabulous event to “Pay it forward to Amelia” at the Bellvue Store in November. While planning this event, we wanted to make sure that Amelia knew this was an outreach of love from the people that she had touched and not simply a “fundraiser”. Many people came to this event not even knowing who Amelia was. One woman said she had never met Amelia but had received eight different emails all urging her to attend.
So for those of you who have not had a chance to meet Amelia or see her INCREDIBLE work, let me give you a brief insight. This gal was born and raised in Cincinnati, moved to the Fort chasing an old girlfriend where she realized she didn’t want to live in Ohio anymore! She could be a poor starving artist here – that seemed like a better deal: artist by day and pizza manager at night. The company she worked for offered her a job with the promise of a bigger store and better money in California. Let’s just say living in Riverside, CA, was not quite where she wanted to be, especially after the 5th robbery at the pizza place. In her own words: “I snapped. I started painting flowerpots obsessively! They were cheap to buy, and I found them to be a great canvas. Eventually my house was filled with more than 150 painted flower pots!”
This is where the story gets really good! She started watching TV while painting and thought: ”they could use my painted pots on ‘Will and Grace’!” So she watched the credits, found the set designer’s name, and sent her several pots along with a pizza. Soon the designer was on the phone and wanted more.
While selling pots to a shop owner in Santa Monica, she had her trunk open and found Pamela Anderson looking through her trunk. Pamela bought pots on the spot. Amelia now makes yearly trips to California with her own work and showcases other local artists, who have now found their work on the big screen. I still have a vision in my head of Amelia riding around Santa Monica with Pam Anderson and Carmen Electra checking out the local talent!! Too freaking funny!
Then came the dream: Amelia had a dream that she was painting purses, belts and shoes! Locally she had told a few ‘arty folks’ of her vision and they supported her idea whole-heartedly. She started her wonderful dots. I’m sure something is wrong with her brain because she can paint such perfection time after time and create a painting of such precise dots in random patterns. It will blow your mind! She started painting Prada shoes, and now many very famous people are walking around in exquisite dots!
So this is my friend Amelia. I admire my friend; she has gone through much adversity, yet she still has a great smile on her face and a very wicked sense of humor. I Love you Amelia. You inspire me. You show me that my petty life inconveniences are truly whiney on my part. I salute you and I want you to keep on DOTTING!
If you want to help, please go to her website, AmeliaCaruso.com, and bid on her great painting that will be auctioned off by Dec 8. To see the painting and other great art works that were donated for sale, go to the Belvue Store at 5032 W County Rd 52 E. If you just want to donate to a great cause, please go to the website or send donations to:
Amelia Caruso
P.O. Box 271024
Ft Collins, CO 80527-1024
970-219-3228
ameliacaruso@gmail.com
Maggie Kunze is a free-lance writer, farkle artist and all around art geek.