DAPHNE, Ala. — Catherine’s Place at Mercy Medical will celebrate its first Art Walk, Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The walk will take place in the activity and living rooms where art enthusiasts and program supporters will be able to view the pieces.

The art program was started by Marilyn Ammons and Mendi Niblett, recreation program coordinator at Catherine’s Place.

“We want to show the public what Catherine’s Place art class does. (Our clients) are very proud of the art they have created,” Niblett said. “It’s just a great story to see what these people have done.

“We want to show the community how much the volunteers have helped,” she added.

Chris Hartsfield, resident Betsey Leyser’s son-in-law, is a volunteer at the program and a local artist who will donate some of his own matting and shrink-wrap art to the exhibit. His wife, Linda, will coordinate the art work on display.

Ammons, a retired teacher of the Baldwin County school system, and a family volunteer whose mother lives at Catherine Place, built on the idea of spending time with her mom by lending her skills as a watercolor artist with all the residents.

According to Niblett, painting takes the clients to a calming place in their lives; they just lose themselves in the program.

“I never knew, at this age, that I would hold a paint brush in my hands and enjoy something so much and be pretty good at it,” Mimi Crane, a 93-year-old patient, said.

Birdie Comminskey, a resident, is preparing for a battle over who gets her paintings. She said her children are lining up for the rights to the works.

The art on display includes watercolors of birds, flowers, fruits and other scenes that attendees may purchase.

Catherine’s Place plans to release a “Calling All Angels” series of postcards, which will be available for purchase at the walk through the end of the campaign. Calling All Angels is a fundraising project of Mercy Medical and the Eastern Shore Art Center promoting artistic expressions of angels in our midst, and paying tribute to such good Samaritans or lifesavers. The Calling All Angels campaign will culminate in a November art show at the center with selected artwork being auctioned during a gala event on Dec. 4, according to Mercy Medical’s Web site.

Mercy Medical has taken submitted watercolor works and printed them into note cards. They were produced by the clients working in collaboration with the Eastern Shore Art Society.

Catherine’s Place is an assisted-living facility especially designed for seniors. In addition to arts and crafts classes, it offers: exercise, music and singing programs, gardening activities and walking trails.

Refreshments will be provided and donations to the Catherine Place Activity Art Fund will be accepted, “to help fund the project,” according to Niblett.

The walk is open to the public and there is no entry fee.