The Struggle Between Deaf & Hearing World. Deaf Heritage Month
161 Essex Street, Lower East Side NYC
Opening September 29, 2 p.m.—6 p.m.
Call ahead: (929) 530-2142.
By CLAYTON PATTERSON © 2019
Born in 1948, underweight, no ears, and on Christmas Eve dumped on a church step. In the ’40s and ’50s people were afraid of the deaf. Imagine the mental isolation. The system had no way of dealing with a deaf orphan. He was placed in Pressley Rigeway for Disturbed Children and Home for Crippled Children, and seven foster homes. At age five went to Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and the Dumb in Pittsburgh. Between the age of six and 15 he had 27 ear operations. Nothing worked. Eventually he became a member of a loving foster home, and he thrived. Became an Eagle Scout. In high school he was a flyweight wrestler. But it was art that satisfied his soul. He was the first deaf person to graduate from Carnegie-Mellon University. First deaf person to teach at the Atlanta College of Art. Moved to NYC in 1983 during the height of the drug wars and has since lived on 7th between C and D.
In 1984, we were in our first group show together. To survive, he painted signs. If one wanted to follow the path of gentrification a book about his signs would explain a lot. It is his dedication to his art that drove him forward and pulled us together. His earlier work describes L.E.S. fires, abandoned streets, and the pleasure part, people in restaurants. The last few years he has been working to build a bridge between the deaf and the non-deaf.
Jerry is a true Art Warrior. A kind and gentle soul. A hero of mine. Jerry Pagane is an inspiration for me. I love and admire Jerry, his art, and all he stands for. He is one of the toughest guys I know.
