Imagine walking into a room and seeing 16 faces on the walls.
And not just any faces, personality photos of children in their most relaxed and vibrant states.
That’s what I did last week at Something Special, the popular eatery on Walnut Street in Kingston.
It’s currently home to the Simply Me photo exhibit by Darren Elias, a fabulous local photographer I’ve been acquainted with for some time.
His exhibit shows kids and their personalities in beautiful black-and-white photography. The photos line the walls of the restaurant from now though Feb. 7.
Last week, we attended the opening, which was a true treat because the kids featured were there and were happy to see themselves celebrated.
What a special experience for these kids.
Visit Something Special during the week between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. by Feb. 7. If you’ve never been there before, it is right behind Abe’s Hot Dogs in Kingston.
Keeping with the subject of art, another friend of mine had an artistic experience she recently raved about to me.
Mary Ann Murphy, who is also a longtime friend of my mother’s, wrote to me letting me know that artist Herbert Simon, a former Wilkes University professor, has an exhibit at the Everhart Museum in Scranton until Feb. 16.
The exhibit is billed as a “retrospective of the life’s work of sculptor, printmaker and painter Herbert Simon” with a “wide breadth of the artist’s prolific and diverse output in all facets of his artistic quest.”
Simon was born in Nashville, Tenn. and studied art throughout the country with leading figures of abstraction, including Hands Hoffman, Robert Motherwell and Phillip Guston, according to everhart-museum.org.
He is inspired by the industrial landscape of Northeastern Pennsylvania and simple everyday objects.
From what I’m told, his work is award-worthy, so I’m happy to encourage anyone to look into it further and attend if possible.
Finally, “The Goonies” movie is 40 years old this year. Surely you remember the 1985 comedy based on a Steven Speilberg story where a group of adventurous kids take on a property-developing company threatening their homeland?
From my recollections, it was a hit back in the day.
To commemorate it, Cinemark is bringing it back to theaters. I remember the movie from back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (there I am, showing my age).
Showtimes are 4, 4:20, 6:30 and 7 p.m. today at Cinemark on Montage Mountain in Moosic. That is, of course, according to my online research. Confirm before you go.
All that said, let’s keep using art as a way to add a lightness to life. Whether it’s looking at photos, attending an exhibit or watching a movie — we all need a little escape sometimes.