New Piermont Gallery Shows Brain-injured Artist's Work
Broderick G. Morales, age 19, lives in Palisades with his mother, father and sister. In 2005, Morales was in a serious car accident and suffered a severe brain injury. As part of his recovery, he is painting. A selection of his paintings are hanging at Galleria Melodia, 530A Piermont Ave., Piermont, a new art space owned by the Morales family in Piermont. It has been open since Memorial Day, and his latest work is being shown starting this week. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For information, call 845-825-4786.
His mother, Leslie, said, "We have 200 pieces of art and we said, 'Let's just put it in here and see what happens.' It's been amazing. Everybody walks in and has really great things to say. I think it's really different than other things in Piermont."
Morales has been creative since childhood, but he really didn't paint seriously until after the accident. Inspired by Cy Twombly, an American abstract artist, Morales is currently working with Elaine Smollin, an artist-in-residence in Palisades.
(Information for this article and some of the wording came from an article by Gerald McKinstry, “Palisades Teen Progresses from Coma to Art”, originally published in the Journal News on June 13, 2007)