It's no mystery: 'Enigma' is a winner

Tuesday, Sept. 27 — When she first came to Michigan in the early 1960s, MinaGreco Hall found little in the way of an arts scene in Lansing. But afternearly five decades of teaching and painting and working with artists, she haswatched the arts thrive here.

Hall, who was born and raised in Taranto, Italy, recentlywon the People’s Choice Award in Lansing Art Gallery’s “City Streets” exhibitfor her work, “Enigma.”

An accomplished painter, Hall said her painting of two dancingpuppets was inspired by masks she saw in a window in Venice; later, she sawsimilar masks in the department store TJ Maxx. “They talk to me,” she said. “They are puppets. They have noeyes, no head.”

She said she was inspired by the masks because they can beboth tragic and “sometimes can be beautiful.” Masks are used by criminals and in masquerades, Hall said,adding that “masquerade can be happy or tragic. I used that as life.”

She also said she doesn’t just try to paint a little flower,but tries to paint things that people don’t paint: “Do something out of the ordinary.”

Hall explained that artists in Italy have to study andhave a 2- to 3-year apprenticeship before they can call themselves artists. Her paintings are abstract, she said, but they have to havea balance and there has to be a reason for everything in the painting.

For instance, Hall said, in “Enigma”the ribbons on the top of the one mask match the ribbons on the arm of theother puppet. “Have to give it abalance,” she said. “There must be a reason why the artist paints a paintingthat way.”

Hall’s painting was displayed in “City Streets” exhibit,along with 80 other artworks along the public walkways of Washington Square andMichigan Avenue. Along with the award for “Enigma,” Hall has received numerousawards for her paintings internationally, most recently receiving a silvermedal at the International Art Exhibit, M.C.A., at Cannes, France.

 Hall and her husband John are working on publishing abiography due out sometime next year called “From Italy to America with Love.”