Anita Helen Cohen of Newton, MA died on July 2, 2023 at age 76. She was the beloved wife of Alex Vogel, dear daughter of the late Milton and Dorothy Cohen and loving sister of Mitchell.

Anita began a 26 year career in health care at Health Management Resources(HMR) in 1983, working in Newton, MA, as a Behavioral Health Educator, treating patients with high risk obesity. In addition to her career in health care, Anita spent most of her adult life creating art works in watercolor and pastel. Her passion was to paint nature up close and in this vein she created both representational and abstract paintings. Her paintings earned awards and accolades in numerous exhibitions throughout Massachusetts. Anita was inducted into the National Association of Women Artists in 2015, and in the Massachusetts chapter as well. The true essence of Anita was the joy and beauty she brought, not only to her career and artwork, but to all the people she touched.

An artist based in Maine, Toni Jo often explained that her work was both cathartic and socially motivated.

In her artist statement, Toni Jo wrote: “I have come to know the many distinct parts of me that make up the ‘Self.’ I … illustrate what these diverse parts (feelings and emotions) look like for me. When I express mental issues this way, I am able to objectify them (and even subjugate them, if necessary) for a new perspective. I am not an art therapist, but my work is indeed cathartic. Like Louise Bourgeois, I am inspired by a conflicted family life, the human condition, and psychoanalysis. I use materials and styles to best capture the part I am addressing.”

Toni Jo Coppa received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MFA from the Maine College of Art, and was honored with a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Carol A. O’Neill, passed away on July 6, 2024.Born in Jersey City, NJ, Carol was raised in Kearny. After marrying her husband Charles, the couple lived in the Netherlands for several years, returning to New Jersey in 2000.

She received an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a BFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in New Jersey. A fine art painter, drawing was her love, and she produced many graphite drawings of nature. In her early years, Carol enjoyed painting with oils as well as egg tempera. She won prominent awards, including a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

She observed: “Nature is where I find the peacefulness and inspiration for my work.” She took photographs, and gathered and collected small plant life, from seeds to worn leaves, stating, “I offer the viewer traces, remnants, shadows, shards and inferences—an appreciation of the botanical life around us.”