Renton senior artists show off their talents

For Connie Porta, retirement has been about getting tuned back into her creative side, thanks to the various art classes at the Don Persson Renton Senior Activity Center.

“I like to be busy. I’m in three classes now — oil painting, watercolor painting and drawing,” Porta said.

Since joining the senior center’s classes, Porta has tapped into her visual talents and made some beautiful art, some of which was showcased at the senior center on Aug. 21, along with many other local budding artists, including their instructors.

The one-night only showcase, called “Brushstrokes and Beyond: Showcase of Creativity,” highlighted the senior center’s programs, with excellent representations from classes like oil painting, acrylic painting, colored pencil and graphite drawing, wood carving, Chinese calligraphy and even the senior center’s Writing Club.

Along with Porta’s work, like her colored pencil donkey drawing, Luna Zuniga showcased her own pieces from the painting classes, including a vibrant piece where a black cat surrounded by houseplants reaches into a fishbowl.

“My first class was acrylic and I didn’t want to do what they were suggesting,” Zuniga said. “I wanted to do my own thing.”

Newly retired, Zuniga said she wanted to find things to do that were enjoyable, interesting and relaxing, adding that she likes to paint non-realistic subjects while listening to classical and EDM.

“It’s got to be whimsical,” she said.

Along with the one-night showcase, the senior artists had their art featured on the walls of downtown’s Liberty Cafe, which curates different artwork each month. For the month of August, the Renton senior center art students have had their best pieces on display, with some even getting to sell prints of their art, like Zuniga and Tommy Brown, whose work was a highlight of the showcase.

Liberty Cafe owner Debbie Natelson told The Reporter that there has been a lot of interest in this month’s senior art gallery, and senior center art instructor and professional painter Tabitha Brown said the gallery’s opening night on Aug. 8 had a turnout of 30 visitors (a large number for the narrow cafe space) and that the art “continues to generate interest as the month progresses.”

The Renton recreation department has released its fall 2025 recreation guide, which includes multiple available senior art classes for the season, including Wood Carving, Handicraft Group, Oil Painting, Watercolor Exploration, Drawing with Graphite or Colored Pencil, Adult Coloring for Fun, Origami 101 Repurpose/Recycle and Introduction to Chinese Calligraphy. The center also offers multiple Acrylic Painting workshops like Salmon Days, Textured Flower, Whimsical Fall Foliage, Halloween Gnome, Pumpkin Pie and Wintery Snow Globe.

For more information on recreation courses, visit rentonwa.gov/register.