On Thursday, April 26, an art exhibit and open house will be held at the Sister Annunciata Bethell Senior Center (aka the Bedford Park Senior Center), 243 E. 204th St. starting at 11 a.m. A short documentary will be featured as well as a display of the jewelry and other artwork made by several seniors who participated in the Seniors Partnering with Artist Citywide program (SPARC).

The SPARC program is a community arts engagement program funded by the city that allows seniors to participate in various arts and crafts activities. SPARC offers selected artists the chance to work in senior centers throughout the five boroughs. The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) is the administrating organization for all Bronx locations.

Gail Sharbaan, one of the recipients of a SPARC grant, has worked hard with her assistant, Denise Shelley, and the seniors at the Bedford Park center to put together tomorrow’s exhibition and open house. Sharbaan met with the seniors every Thursday at the center to engage in arts and crafts projects. During the third week of March, they created handmade invitations for the exhibition and began to work on other art projects, including face masks, jewelry, decorating vases and making handbags out of recycled magazines. Sharbaan and Shelley documented their work on the face masks and turned it into a documentary that will be shown at the exhibition.

The exhibit and open house are free and guests will have the chance to learn about the programs and services offered at the center. For more information about the exhibition, call (718) 365-3725 or visit www.bronxarts.org to learn more about the SPARC program.

Editor’s Note: We’ll have the full story on the SPARC program in next week’s Norwood News.