Steven Calapai – The resilience in Art

The year 2020 is proving to be the most challenging one in generations, arguably. For most of us, this is the first time we are asked to face an event of a global scale on which we have no or minimal incidence, and many of us are forced to review, and even question, the important decisions we have made in the past. But that is only part of the journey we are experiencing because we also need to look at the future, a future still unclear and uncertain; nevertheless, we have an obligation towards ourselves not to give up and figure out what to do.

Especially in times like these, it is essential to turn our attention to people who can show us – with their example – how we can turn this forced introspection into positive thinking and constructive action. We are proud to be able to present you one these stories.

The protagonist is Long Island-based Artist Steven Calapai. Steven is a creative entrepreneur who, from a successful early career in Hollywood representing top tiers celebrities, later applied his skills and valuable network of contacts in the professional event organization industry and – when he decided to come back to New York – in the commercial real estate business.

As for many other entrepreneurs, the beginning of the pandemic last March heavily impacted Steven’s businesses, imposing an unpredicted but inevitable stop and the tearing dilemma of what to do in the upcoming months.

But that was the time when something new and different sparkled in Steven: instead of losing heart because of the hurdle, he embraced a new self and tunneled his creativity and energy towards the arts. He bought canvases, brushes, and colors and started painting, putting his imagination, passion, and fantasy in his works.

The results have been astounding ever since. Steven almost immediately received recognition and admiration among the very well educated and selective community of art connoisseurs and collectors of Long Island and New York, who started buying his creations and, doing so, generating a tremendous buzz in the local as well as the national art scene.

Today Steven is a full-time artist, and his creativity is in full-steam mode, receiving attention and requests from a fast-growing base of admirers; not even the news in early November that he contracted COVID-19 has stopped him.

He is a COVID survivor who also does not forget the troubles of the challenges posed by the pandemic; that is why he always donates part of his proceedings to charity. The last momentous occasion was a fund-raiser event in honor of David Bowie related to research on cancer, in which one of his works was auctioned for $35,000.

A valuable and inspiring example of what we all are capable of doing if we really want it.

Steven was able to turn what could have been an 'end' (of his business or career) into a 'beginning,' and has done it remaining true to himself and finding a new way to express his passion, creativity, and business instinct.

You can visit Steven’s online gallery of works at his website www.stevencalapai.net and follow his inspiring story on social media @stevencalapai.

Article by Joseph Ralph Fraia