After Pulse: Olga Molina

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Olga Molina is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Central Florida (UCF). On June 12, 2016 Olga was in her car and turned on a Spanish speaking radio station. She heard announcements that blood was needed and that people were lining up at blood banks. Something terrible must have happened. For the longest time they didn’t say what had happened. When she got back home, she turned on the TV and started seeing the images of people coming out of the nightclub. She didn’t know how many had been killed yet. The community came together very quickly, bringing water to those in line to give blood.

Several days later she went to a conference in New York City. There she met the executive director of Hispanic Family Counseling who said that they were short of bilingual social workers. They were being overwhelmed with the number of clients they were seeing. There are not enough bilingual social workers in Central Florida. Olga volunteered. They were doing a lot of home visits since people were so frightened that they didn’t want to leave their homes.

Olga began a Spanish speaking support group for survivors. These were people who were in the nightclub on the night of the attack. About 6 survivors came into the group. They met for about eight sessions. Then people were transferred to therapists. That happened between June and October of 2016. The meetings happened once a week for about two hours. The stories were horrific. Confidentiality and safety and trust were important. It was about mutual aid. They were the only ones who had gone through this experience and so they would best know how to help each other.

Some could not sleep at night. Many lost their jobs. Several became homeless because the FBI was asking questions and the landlords didn’t want problems. Anxiety was high. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder had to be overcome just to go to the meetings.

They exchanged phone numbers, and began contacted each other during the week. After the group meeting they would go across the street to the coffee shop and talk for several more hours. They became friends, some attended church together, Some took English classes together. It was empowering.

After the eight weeks they decided they wanted to keep meeting and so a new counselor was brought in to continue the sessions. They worked with the new counselor for several more months and then decided to end the group. Progress was made as they shared and made their way back to society. The eight weeks were not enough for any type of full recovery but everyone made their own progress. People are still hurting and there are long term consequences of the attack. Bridges still need to be built.

Hurricane damage in Greenwood Cemetery.

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I drive by Greenwood Cemetery almost daily and after Hurricane Irma I was amazed at the amount of tree damage there was in the cemetery. I decided to return to document some of the trees that had snapped like twigs. The first stop was to the four headstones for victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre. This area of the cemetery had been largely spared. As a matter of fact one stone had rainbow balloons, rainbow flowers, a pin wheel and a rainbow colored teddy bear. All the memorial items were pristine. The day before had been Leroy Valentín Fernández‘ birthday. Clearly the family had come out and colorfully decorated his headstone to mark the occasion. All of the Pulse victim headstones now had color photos that were laminated in plastic and cut into the headstones. The photo of Cory Connell was had outstretched arms as if he were ready to wrestle the world. All memorial items had been removed form his stone, probably in preparation for Hurricane Irma. All 4 stone sat quietly in the shade of a large tree that had weathered the storm fine.

Pam Schwartz and I searched the cemetery for the tree I had seen while driving by the cemetery. Blanche Crews headstone
was knocked over by a fallen tree limb. It was wedged back up with
fallen branches making it look like the fallen angels had crutches.  Dozens of trees had snapped and branches littered the entire cemetery making it appear wild and overgrown. I settled into a spot near the headstone of Edgar Earl Hitchcock. I of course wondered if he was related to the film maker. Pam quickly did research and found out that Edgar was an important figure in Orlando’s medical history. He founded the Pediatric Associates of Orlando in 1939. He was shown in a photo giving the very first polio vaccine shot in Central Florida to a young boy. His wife Ruth died many years after him but her headstone was not in her family plot or perhaps there is just no headstone.

Across the lane from where I was sketching, a family arrived in several cars. Blue and white helium balloons bounced up out of the car behind them. They were visiting the headstone of Richard Marcano Trinidad who had died on August 19, 2016. He had died at the tender age of 36. His stone noted that he was a Stealers fan and the epitaph read…”For the best daddy in the world. We will never forget you…from your kids.” An Orlando Sentinel article reported that police had been dispatched to a home near UCF, where they found Trinidad critically injured. His 36 year old girlfriend was on the scene. I could not find any further reports about how or why Richard had died. The family released the dozen or so blue and white balloons and they silently rose into the sky.

Near the fallen tree I was sketching was the headstone for Harry P. Leu (1884-1977) and his wife Mary (1903-1986) of Leu Gardens fame. Their two granite slabs lying side by side, were pristine except for a few leaves. The Harry P. Leu historic home however has suffered damage from a huge tree limb that crashed into the roof, exposing the Leu bedroom to rain and wind damage. The ceilings and floor boards are soaked. Leu Gardens has closed indefinitely. Pam Schwartz, the Orange County Regional History Center curator went to the historic home to offer advice on preservation societies who might be able to help as well as FEMA contacts. 

The History Center off site storage facility had suffered damage when a roof access panel was blown loose and it gouged holes in the roofing as the heavy metal lid was hurled by the high winds, causing leaks over the historic collection. I was with Pam when she found the soaked warehouse and helped in removing soaked ceiling panels and now useless archival cardboard boxes. It look hours of work and in the emergency the sketchbook was ignored. Even though the floor were dried and artifacts were lifted to be  dried out off the floor, it was then discovered that the walls of the warehouse are fulled with mold. Now an effort needs to be made to save the collection form that mold which is inside the walls up to 10 feet high. The History Center is replacing all the inner walls in an effort to  protect and preserve Orlando’s History.

Brian Feldman presents, Dishwasher.

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Flying Horse Editions located in the UCF Center for Emerging Media campus across from the Bob Carr, held an open house with wine and cheese.

Flying Horse Editions is a collaborative research studio for visual
artists at the University of Central Florida. A non-profit publisher of
limited-edition prints, artist books, and art objects by
internationally renowned artists, FHE offers unique opportunities for
artists, students, and the Central Florida community.

Flying Horse Editions offers visiting artists the opportunity to work
with FHE technicians to push the boundaries of their work while
providing a unique educational experience for UCF students.

At part of the open house Brian Feldman presented Dishwasher. The premise is simple; Brian washed dishes for the first half of the evening and then gave a cold reading of a monologue from a play. Sara Segal , who booked the performance, picked the script. After his reading, the audience was asked if Brian was a better actor or dish washer. Brian began h is acting career when he was just 10 years old at the Shakespeare Theater at Lake Eola Park. His first non-acting job however, was as a dishwasher. So he has experience with both career paths. Several of Brian’s friends were at the open house and they joked with Brian as he did the dishes. When it came time to vote, they decided he was a better dishwasher. The rest of the audience voted for his acting.

Prints at Art Systems.

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When clients order prints of my work I get them made at Art Systems (1740 FL-436, Winter Park, FL 32792). The great thing is that the store is just a 10 minute drive from my Winter Part Chateau. Nadia is an animation major at UCF and is an artist. She likes to flip through my sketchbooks when I have them on hand, which is always. She gives me prints with perfect color matching to the original. Watercolors are tricky because color is created from light shooting through thin layers of pigment and then bouncing off the white page.  When I paint opaque paint on the same sketch it throws of the color that the scanner and computer see. It takes a keen eye to spot and correct the limited senses of a computer.

There has been a change in the print shop. The former reprographics manager left and all the prints were removed from the walls. A new manager, Sarah Jane Rozman  took his place. She is an artist who loves to paint birds. She is a pretty amazing artist. She handled the print I brought in and got the colors spot on. A person running the print shop is much like a barber or bartender. The client waits as the print is being made and conversation lightens the wait. Sarah and I started talking about events following the Pulse shooting, and I found myself in an emotionally charged conversation that I didn’t expect. Sarah listened with compassion and understanding. Hopefully this is happening all or Orlando as the city heals. Three months after the tragic event I am more caught up in trying to understand what happened than ever. I am sketching Pulse employees and survivors from that night and the conflicting stories keep me thinking as I lie awake and try to sleep at night. 

I leave behind some piece of myself  everywhere I go. I forgot my umbrella at Art Systems and Sarah held on to it for the three weeks or so when I returned to make another print. Nadia was there as well and she insisted I see an animated film by Leica Studio called Kubo. I took her advice and it as an amazing film. Go see it! Characters are given time to breath and think. Stop motion, CGI and traditional animation are all used to breath life into an incredible hero’s journey. I went to a late night screening alone and was blown away. ” When we grow stronger the world gets more dangerous.” 

So my trips to the print shop for clients are not just business as usual. I go knowing I might learn something new, become a bit more emotionally grounded, or be inspired. A trip to to the print shop is an adventure.

Adult Workshop, Patterns in Life

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On Wednesday July 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. I went to the Mennello Museum of American Art (900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, Florida)  for an adult workshop called Patterns in Life. After last summer’s success, the museum brought back a series of one-time classes for adults (and mature high school students). The classes are taught by UCF art students and include coffee in the morning sessions and a glass of wine in the evenings.

Patterns in Life explored intriguing designs created by the Florida Seminoles. Their native patterns are often inspired by plant motifs and other aspects of the natural world. Attendees tried their hands at designing symbols of their world. The four UCF Student Instructors were Mary Joy Torrecampo, Charles Morrison, Kristine “Kiki” Esdaille and Lujan Perez. I was impressed that Charles was doing the same thing I was doing, by documenting the workshop with a sketch. Lujan, seated at the head of the table was working on an orange painting that evolved into a portrait. It was encouraging to see students doing impressive figurative work. I told them about the World Wide SketchCrawl and Charles seemed intrigued.

The Cunningham paintings on the walls seemed to glow on the dark purple walls creating a vibrant pattern. Spanish moss draped off the branches of the huge Live Oak behind the museum. I never got a closeup look at any of the five attendees paintings. But everyone certainly had a fun time.

UCF Book Festival

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On April 13th, Terry and I went to the UCF Book Festival in the UCF Arena. We actually had to take separate cars since I had to teach at Full Sail right afterwards. The central court area of the arenas was jammed full of booths full of authors selling their signed books. Terry actually knew one of the first authors, Elizabeth Allen, who wrote a book called, “Who Got Liz Gardner“. The book is about the sexual exploits of the young author. I haven’t read it, but Terry loved it. Liz sat at the table with her husband who was also an author. The table had a divider down the middle. Liz met her husband at an acting workshop where actors had to break up into teams. Liz wasn’t paired with anyone, and the instructor asked the class, “Who got Liz Garner? The title implies the question, “Who married Liz Gardner?”

We bumped into a lawyer who is also an author, He advised me to start putting large watermarks on my sketched to avoid people using my work online for free. I am experimenting with watermarks now but really want to avoid a rude symbol that dominates every drawing. The lawyer was saddened by some of the authors who self published books and had no distribution plans other than at small book festivals like this. Large areas of stadium seating were blocked off with black cloth drops. I took up the challenge to sketch the overall view of the cavernous space while Terry explored more authors talks. Several authors in my sketch were giving a talk to three or four people seated in the stands. The audience might have just been family.

Storm Troopers invaded the children’s reading area and then patrolled the show floor along with some Jedi and Sith Lords. I take Star Wars as a movie franchise not a classic novel, but I suppose the kids didn’t care. A UCF football uniform was set up as a photo opportunity where you could wedge your face above the shoulder pads to look like you were in uniform. I later discovered that authors, Bob Kealing and Jeff Kunerth were at the Book Fair and somehow I missed them.

On the Center stage a poetry slam began with a half full audience in 5 rows of folding seats. After the sketch was done, Terry and I got some free Slurpees. Terry had seen enough so we headed out. We grabbed some lunch a Logan’s Steakhouse and then I went off to work.

Natura Coffee and Tea

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When I work till 9PM at Full Sail I tend to go out and sketch Jazz which pops up all over town. Natura Coffee and Tea is a hole in the wall coffee shop right near UCF (12078 Collegiate Way Orlando, FL). The front window proclaims, “Self expression welcome.” The place offers music, art and film. All the clientele are young college aged kids. Students smoked hookahs on a couch to the left. An older woman got a whole cup of hot coffee spilled in her lap. There was quite a commotion to get her cleaned up.

The jazz was lively but I never caught any of the musicians names. The guitarist just told me that he and Reagan on the keyboard had gotten the group together for the night.  I desperately want to return to sketch the students smoking the intricate and ornate hookahs. I may have to work late next month so I might be back.

Taste of Jazz

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Every Monday night starting around 8PM, there is a jazz jam at Taste Restaurant (717 West Smith Street).  I arrived straight from work. The drum set was just being set up, so I sketched the pieces as they fell into place. Several performers were UCF professors. Tracy Alexander performed on the drums, Greg Zabel on upright Bass, John Krasula on guitar and Joe Young on Trumpet. As the evening wore on more musicians entered the bar and they would step in on different riffs. I ordered tater tots and a Blue Moon. The dipping sauce was on the hot side so I needed the beer to negate the heat in my mouth.

I recognized some of the regular patrons from past sketching trips to Taste. The guy seated next to me asked a question I hear quite often, “Did you do that here?” Since the sketch is of the musicians we both just saw perform, it would seem quite obvious that I didn’t do it out on the sidewalk or in my car. Anyway, the music was great. Each performer in turn launched into a long solo and when the moment was right the rest of the performers would join back in. I stepped out after the first set to rush back home.

Jazz on the Green

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Bank of America was the host for Jazz on the Green held on Saturday October 20th at the UCF College of Medicine (6850 Lake Nona Boulevard). Terry had VIP passes since Merrill Lynch had paid for a corporate table. VIP parking wasn’t much different than regular parking since the event didn’t seem to be very crowded. Food trucks and their loud generators crowded much of the lot. Corporate tables were arranged on either side of the stage. The Merrill Lynch table was empty. There was no shade and it was hot, so Terry and I abandoned the table and sat in our lawn chairs in the shade cast by the stage. We had to move several times as we lost shade.

We were offered a free bottle of wine and a large cheese and fruit platter. Each table got one of these platters and since we were the only ones at our table, there was too much to eat. The Lake Nona Middle School Jazz Ensemble was performing on the Travistock Green when we arrived. It was hard to listen to all the missed notes. The audience, baking in the sun on blankets, loved them however. They all must have been parents of the kids in the band. Next up, on stage, was Jeff Bradshaw and his band. Their jazz had a subtle taste of Cajun Zydeco. During one number, the folks at the table next to us started dancing as they waved their napkins above their heads. Jeff came off the stage and marched up to the table still playing his saxophone. He lead them in a Cajun march through the audience and more people joined the line. Terry got up and joined in. Last to perform was Ken Navarro. He played gentle, smooth jazz as the darkness rolled in. Ken is the act I managed to catch in my sketch. It was a relaxing way to spend a Saturday afternoon. All the money raised from the event benefited the Lake Nona YMCA and the UCF College of Medicine Scholarship programs.

Artists Process

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As part of the Corridor Project‘s first show, Walk on By, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, a UCF art instructor, sat in a thrown outside Urban ReThink starting at 6pm on September 5th accepting trash offerings. That evening artists gathered at ReThink to talk about their art and process.

Wanda was dressed in a tight red corset and had a huge wig of purple hair which was woven and balled up. Red and white jewels glistened in her hair. From the moment I entered, I knew I wanted to get close to her to sketch. Wanda’s regal performance piece had previously been done at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.


She began her discussion by asking the audience what they felt her performance was about. I hadn’t seen her performance, so I kept quiet. Her question rang forth like a challenge. The room was dead silent. A little boy started shrieking and complaining in the corner. With a regal flair Wanda raised her hand and shouted out “Excuse me!” The mom ushered her son out the door. Wanda explained that people often dump their shit on the people closest to them. She said her performance art was about intimacy. In one performance piece she invited people to lie in bed with her. In the quiet moments, some people cried.


Jessica Earley who yarn bombed the front of Urban Rethink discussed her art. She is soft spoken and began her talk by warning us of her shyness. As she discussed her art, she was never at a loss for words. She gazed at the far wall of the room as she spoke. Her thoughts and passions rang true. The projector wouldn’t work but Dina Mack helped her get it running. Jessica showed us some of her more controversial paintings that she had done. One painting she did was actually censored by a costumer in a local restaurant. Her paintings often visualize woman’s issues. Some show a woman’s longings to someday have a child. A painting showing a nude woman and child couldn’t be hung. The woman had some knitting covering her lap and a single strand of yarn lead to a baby who had on a knit cap and diapers. Black crows then flew up from the child’s head towards a flaming blue cell. Jessica has been painting for the past three years and her work is astonishingly intimate and sincere. A common thread through the evenings discussions was that artists love to experiment and explore different mediums. Jessica wants to continue performance art, music, dance, installations and visual art. Self expression can come in many forms.