By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World
When she picked up the phone and heard these words…. “we want you to paint a portrait of Bruce Springsteen for the upcoming MusiCares gala” she knew this would be one of the greatest challenges of her artistic career.
Zhenya Gershman Set to Be Featured Artist at Grammy’s MusiCares Gala
Portrait artist Zhenya Gershman has been chosen to be featured at the annual MusiCares pre-Grammy gala. This annual event is one of the most prestigious ceremonies held during Grammy Week. Zhenya has been honored with the opportunity to be part of this historic celebration and invited to paint a portrait of a rock icon…Bruce Springsteen.
WATCH: Zhenya’s Inspiration
This year’s MusiCares event honors Bruce Springsteen and takes place on Friday February 8th.
In addition to host Jon Stewart and special guests, acclaimed musicians and singers will perform to pay tribute to Bruce Springsteen. The list includes Jackson Browne, Kenny Chesney, Emmylou Harris, Faith Hill, Jim James, Elton John, Juanes, John Legend, Natalie Maines, Tim McGraw, Tom Morello, Mumford & Sons, Patti Smith, Sting, Eddie Vedder, and Neil Young.
The annual MusiCares event features different concepts. Zhenya explains, “Last year they had a Peter Max painted piano autographed by Peter, Ringo Star, Barbara Bach, and Paul Mc Cartney for an event honoring Sir Paul.” She continues, “This year’s unique concept is to create a life size oil portrait of an honored musician. The painting will be the center piece at the Convention Center Gala Exhibition.”
Bruce Springsteen will accept honors at MusiCares gala and receive this portrait by artist Zhenya Gershman
Zhenya’s approach to portraits is to capture the true essence of her subjects. She became consumed with Springsteen’s multifaceted personality and compelling life story.
From the start she grappled with a decision…. Which ”Springsteen” should she paint? There are so many images of this legendary rock icon….and everyone has a picture already formed in their mind. She was inspired to create several new works of the superstar that reflect her search, which she calls her “Bruce Springsteen Series.”
One of the Gershman’s portraits of Springsteen is currently on view at Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Brentwood in a group exhibition benefitting “Women’s Voices Now,” which runs through February 24th. Zhenya muses, “Bruce is a symbol for the voice of truth – I chose to paint his portrait on a back of a guitar, an instrument of his trade. It became a literal instrument to be heard in the world.”
Nancy Chuda is a seasoned broadcast journalist, television writer/producer, talk show host and author. Her career spans over three decades having appeared on both national and cable television.
In 1971 she authored one of America’s first low-calorie cookbooks, How To Gorge George Without Fattening Fanny, published by Hawthorn Books. Appearing as a regular guest on Dinah’s Place, Dinah Shore’s ABC daytime talk show. And later on The Johnny Carson Show, The Today Show with Barbara Walters, Merv Griffin, Phil Donahue, and David Frost. In 1972, Nancy and ABC’s Good Morning America co-produced Michael Krause produced a cable program, The Low- Calorie Gallery, based on her best selling cook book. In 1975, hired by Warner-Amex as part of a creative team, she was responsible for hosting and producing content for Columbus Then and Now, a program, the invention of QUBE, an interactive television system which played a pivotal role in the history of American cable television. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QUBE
In 1978 she developed a series for ABC’s Good Morning America based on an article which appeared in Mother Earth News magazine. The Integral Urban House, a case study project and model for a sound urban habitat sponsored by the Farallones Institute in Berkley California was the first example of green architecture ever to be televised.
In 1979, Nancy co-produced and hosted Sunnyside a Los Angeles based public affairs program viewed on the CBS affiliate station KNXT, From 1980-1984, she appeared on KABC’s Eyewitness News as entertainment reporter and film critic.
Her environmental advocacy began when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. In 1990 she co-produced an Emmy nominated ABC Variety Special, An Evening With Friends For The Environment to benefit Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet one of the first national children’s environmental health advocacy groups in which she served as a volunteer.
Currently, she is the co-founder and President Emeritus of Healthy Child Healthy World, a non-profit organization established to honor the Chuda’s only child, Colette, who died in 1991 at the age of 5 from Wilm’s tumor a nonhereditary childhood cancer. She is also the co-founder of The Colette Chuda Environmental Fund, a donor-advised fund which supports major epidemiological research on children’s health.
Nancy has won numerous awards for her advocacy. In 1996, the California League of Conservation Voters Environmental Leadership Award, The Healthy Schools Heroes Award, presented to both her and her husband James Chuda by California Governor Gray Davis for their legislative efforts in securing The Healthy Schools Act which was signed into law in September, 2000. In 2003, Parent’s Magazine published an article Mom’s On A Mission and awarded Nancy for her environmental leadership for children’s environmental health.
She serves as an associate of the Director’s Council of Public Representatives of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and was appointed by President Clinton’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Donna Shalala, to serve as a member of the National Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) a position she held for four years.
In 2010, along with her husband James she founded LuxEcoLiving.
