February 19, 1991 – August 18, 2011
Gabrielle Simpson Cerminaro gave the gift of life through organ, tissue and cornea donation. Seven people have the gift of life because of her. Gabrielle decided when she got her driver’s license at the age of 16 to be an organ donor. Because Gabrielle gave so much and was creative beyond bounds, it was difficult for me to represent her spirit. This was very hard for me to do, and after weeks of anguish I finished it. Family and friends encouraged me. The background color is a deep purple, one of Gabrielle’s favorites. In the upper left corner is the picture of her that she really likes. One day it magically took the place of her graduation picture in our bedroom. To the right of her picture is the mural she painted at Syracuse University in her apartment: “To thine own self b tru.” Attached to that on the right are three vintage buttons. Gabrielle collected buttons and created jewelry amongst other things with them. At the bottom of the mural is a foundation GabriellesArtsFoundation.org we started in her memory. The mission is: “Helping youth experience creativity through the arts.” Below her picture is her award winning reverse drawing of a chandelier that hangs from her bedroom. She was very proud of that work of art, created her senior year in high school. To the right of that is the award winning oil painting she did in 2011 called “Resting Man.” At the bottom is her name and a statement about Gabrielle, “An incomparably effervescent young women to whom outreach was a passion and for whom the Arts served as interpreter.” The border is made up of pieces of her artwork and in the center is a sand dollar because Gabrielle loved the beach. It was hard for me to part with even the few buttons she collected, and the sand dollar but I felt that they were necessary to finish the piece. She was transferring to the prestigious Tyler School of Art in the fall of 2011. She was our youngest daughter of two, and we miss her tremendously every day. Please support GabriellesArtsFoundation.org so we can continue to help other youth through the arts.