Artist reception Sunday, May 21, 1–3 p.m. in the chapel

Yasuko Kodama was born in Toyko, Japan to a family with a keen eye for art and kimono design.  As a child, she loved poring through books about art. Kodama came to the United States with her husband in 1958, the start of a 56-year journey together of living between the United States and Japan. Busy raising two children and keeping up in an environment where English wasn’t her first language, Yasuko turned her artistic eye into her cooking and projects such as quilting, creating hand dyed textile fibers, weaving and pottery. Later, Kodama worked as a floral designer.



Kodama always had an interest in watercolor painting, but never had a chance to dive into this until 2018, two years after her husband’s death. She has been showing her works throughout the Era Living complexes in their art exhibits, and has been studying with Deborah Kapoor and others at the Gage Academy of the Arts.

Barbara Schneider reports that with the help of an artistic neighbor, she began dabbling in painting when her children outgrew the "nest." She says “Sybil introduced me to oil painting in the wonderful Georgetown studio of Mary Tudor. The genius of that introduction was that Mary did all the work—preparing canvases, mixing colors, even cleaning the brushes. All I had to do was explore and find (mostly) pleasing ways to fill the surfaces, and listen to the six or eight real artists in the studio every week."

Then, in another stroke of luck, she was introduced to the organization Path with Art, which offers creative experiences to people living with and leaving homelessness. Her "job" as a Creative Mentor was to model good student behavior and participate in the varied classes offered at assorted downtown locations. Path with Art also gave her the opportunity to face several of her greatest fears. Therefore, she plans to donate part of the funds raised through sale of her art to support Path with Art. Several years of writing and watercolor kept her busy until she retired to University House. At this point in her life, Barbara Schneider says, “It is a joy to bring out some of my favorite works and re-live the enriching experiences of actually producing art.”

Both Kodama and Schneider are residents of University House, a senior living community in Wallingford. They were brought to our attention by June Sekiguchi, who curates art exhibits for many local ERA Senior Living facilities. Exhibiting the work of these artists is part of the Art Committee’s emphasis on reaching out to artists of color and others from under-represented groups, to bring their works to a new audience at UUC. For more information, contact Art Committee co-chair Judy Oerkvitz at joerkvitz@hotmail.com.