YMCA Hosts Local Artist's Exhibit

Cassandra Ondich was shocked when she won "best in show" for fine arts at the Wyckoff YMCA last fall. After all, she was less than a year out of college and her work was up against some of the area's best artists.

The winning piece, a portrait of a clown with her hand covering the lower half of her face, was not what Ondich would have expected to be a winner. It was actually a painting she had done in college for a circus-themed show.

"Everyone was assigned a different character from a circus, and I was assigned a clown because everyone knew I hated clowns," Ondich said. "But it worked out."

After Ondich won, YMCA Director of Cultural Arts and Senior Programming Jennifer Sauer asked her to show more of her work as one of the Y's monthly gallery artists.

Now Ondich's art is on display at the Y until late July. Her work features of a mix of traditional graphite, pen and ink and acrylic ink illustrations which cover an eclectic variety of subjects ranging from cartoon animals to President Teddy Roosevelt.

If she could, Ondich said, she would spend her time illustrating children's stories and drawing portraits. Unfortunately, real life beckons.

Ondich works a day job at an agency in New York finding freelance artists to do advertising work on short deadline. While she is still doing some art in her spare time, Ondich said seeing the art career from the other side made her realize it may not be for her. Schedules are chaotic and money is unreliable.

"Life is hard as an artist," Ondich said.

Cassandra Ondich's exhibit is on display at the YMCA from now until the end of the month.