Outstretched Hands
If the students in her ceramics class occasionally turn out odd-looking ashtrays or strange animals, it’s OK with Molly Blank. To her, everything they make is a work of art.
That’s because her students are elderly people whose hands often shake as they mold the clay, whose eyesight might be failing or whose minds have been invaded by Alzheimer’s or dementia.
A sculptor and retired businesswoman, the Leisure World resident knows well how they might feel. She had to give up her own art, for the most part, after arthritis made working regularly with clay and stone too painful. Yet she finds satisfaction in teaching other seniors at a Laguna Hills center learn to sculpt, often uncovering talents that have lain dormant.
“So many people live and die and never realize their potential,” said Blank, a small woman with honey-colored hair who spends Friday afternoons at the Laguna Hills Adult Day Services off El Toro Road and gives both time and money to numerous other causes. “It’s so wonderful for them to come out and try to do something new.”
The ceramics program, which Blank learned about through a newsletter, is one of several offered at the day services center, which provides a place for disabled and impaired adults to get counseling, exercise, nursing, nutrition and physical therapy. It is organized by the nonprofit South County Senior Services.
During a recent class, Blank helped half a dozen seniors mold and paint small clay trays and animal figurines. During the session, she coped with every kind of artistic temperament, from the shy Rose, who nodded and smiled the entire time while turning out a perfectly shaped bowl, to the entertaining and at times emotional Eugene, who sang an Irish ditty one minute and fought back tears at the thought of a long-lost army buddy the next.
“What color do you want to paint your dish?” Blank asked Eugene.
“Green,” responded the man of Irish descent, who was sporting a green shirt. “There’s no other color but green in the whole world.”
“Eugene, that looks very pretty from here,” she told him, after studying his handiwork. “It looks like you’re making a shamrock.”
Eugene had been moody that morning, lost in his memories of World War II. With a few soothing words from Blank he reverted to joviality. “You remind me of my mother,” he told her. “It’s the way you move your head and your eyes. You have the most beautiful dimples I’ve seen on a young lady in 20 years.”
Blank laughed.
During the class, one small woman proved Blank’s biggest challenge. The woman, who spoke only Korean, was agitated. She grabbed all the paintbrushes from a can and slapped red paint on her candy dish.
“She’s very unruly this morning,” Blank said, enlisting the help of a staff member to calm the woman. Only after working on her piece for about half an hour did the woman finally quiet down.
“She’s very determined, and she can get physical,” Blank said.
Blank is often amazed at the beauty of her students’ creations. An elderly woman named Annie has a knack for sculpting lifelike animals. Blank was so impressed by a pink pig Annie made that she named it Babe.
“It’s interesting how they put a little of themselves in their work,” she said. “They feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s good for their self-esteem.”
The students work with self-hardening clay, so they can make something during class and take it home to show to their families.
“You could make something different every week. This is more fun than sitting out there, isn’t it?” Blank told the group, pointing to a lounge where other seniors sat on couches and easy chairs, some of them lost in sleep.
What impresses her most about her silver-haired students is their willingness to try something new.
“Besides helping their motor skills, it’s good for the social [interaction]. This keeps their minds active, and when you keep the mind active, the body follows,” she said.
Indeed, Becky Lomaka, social services director for adult day services, says the ceramics class keeps many clients from withdrawing into themselves.
Then, “as they lose their inhibitions, we find that they have hidden talents,” Lomaka said.
Blank is interested in their spirits, too. In October, after discovering that the center offered a variety of religious services, but none for people who, like herself, practice Judaism, she called Temple Judea in Laguna Hills, where she is a member.
Now a volunteer from the congregation comes to lead a Shabbat service every Friday afternoon. Blank even made sure they have the special challah bread used during the Shabbat; she contacted Solomon’s Bakery in Laguna Hills and now a fresh loaf is donated to the half a dozen or so Jewish seniors who regularly attend each week.
Blank gives of herself in other ways. She has established endowment funds for children in need at the National Jewish Asthma Center in Denver, Colo., and at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, which opened a pediatric clinic in her name in May, 1998.
She recently established a $200,000 scholarship fund through the Bureau of Jewish Education of Orange County in Costa Mesa so students could learn about their Jewish heritage. She’s a diplomat for the Anti-Defamation League. “I have strong feelings about prejudice and bigotry,” she explained.
Blank’s first husband died suddenly at age 40 in 1957, leaving the young sculptor with two young sons and a company he’d recently started called Sherry Pharmaceuticals that manufactured generic drugs. At the time, Blank was creating graceful dancers, lovers and other figures out of porcelain, clay, bronze and marble. She gave up her career as a full-time artist because she knew there was no way to support herself merely by exhibiting and selling her works at galleries in New York City.
“That’s how I became a business entrepreneur,” she said. “I have a lot of tenacity and a lot of inner strength.”
Blank became a pioneer in the generic drug industry, turning Sherry Pharmaceuticals into a player on the New York Stock Exchange before selling it to a conglomerate in the 1970s.
“I guess I did OK,” she said.
Her sons inherited her business acumen. Arthur Blank is president and chief executive officer of Home Depot, and Michael Blank is vice president of Steris Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company in Arizona. She recently spent three years writing her life story, which she called “You Pass Through Once,” so her six grandchildren and great-grandchild would understand their heritage.
“I decided they should know who I was,” she said.
Blank moved to California eight years ago. She met her second husband, Wayne Mitsch, while square dancing five years ago. He also volunteers with South County Senior Services, delivering Meals on Wheels to the elderly in their homes. Blank started volunteering at adult day services three years ago, after reading that the program needed help in a newsletter published by the National Council of Jewish Women. After visiting the place, she realized she could put her artistic talent to use.
She’s soft-spoken and patient, and she gives each one individual assistance,” said Cathy Allen, activities director for adult day services.
Because of Blank, South County Senior Services’ new Florence Sylvester Memorial Senior Center, which opened recently in Laguna Hills, will have an area equipped with a sink for cleaning up after art projects and sliding windows to provide adequate ventilation while using paints and glazes.
“Art therapy is so important,” Blank said. “Whatever you do with your hands, whether or not you’re ill, is beneficial. If you can get [seniors] involved and bring them into the class, they’ll do anything. They have such a good time.”
To volunteer at the Laguna Hills Adult Day Services or other programs offered by South County Senior Services in Laguna Hills, call volunteer coordinator Marc Marger: (949) 380-0155.
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