{"id":25720,"date":"2021-08-16T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000021524"},"modified":"2021-08-16T13:44:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T20:44:07","slug":"a-lesson-in-resilience-how-ylenia-mino-painted-her-way-through-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/a-lesson-in-resilience-how-ylenia-mino-painted-her-way-through-the-pandemic","title":{"rendered":"A lesson in resilience: How Ylenia Mino painted her way through the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Ylenia Mino, owner of Paint for Purpose, at Hellada Gallery at 117 Linden Ave. Photograph by Alena Maschke.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the pandemic restrictions shut down her business, Ylenia Mino had to shift focus. Her company, Paint for a Purpose, offers painting classes for corporate and private clients\u2014hosting as many as 200 people per event\u2014that range from team building exercises to birthday parties.<\/p>\n

With in-person events prohibited, Mino quickly moved her business online, offering virtual classes and delivering painting kits to her students\u2019 homes. In a time of turmoil, like the coronavirus pandemic, she figured, people needed her classes more than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to bring that joy, encouragement and empower people,\u201d Mino said of her businesses\u2019 namesake purpose.<\/p>\n

Learning how to paint and improving their skills can help students overcome challenges in other areas of their lives, Mino said. \u201cIf they\u2019re frustrated, they don\u2019t know how to do something\u2014they can overcome that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking art classes from age 7 through her teen years, Mino moved on to study psychology at the University of Turin. Understanding the human mind has informed both her art and her educational approach, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a vision, if you have a story\u2014if you understand the mind, the heart\u2014and you put it together with art, it\u2019s really a powerful tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her students, the classes also offer an opportunity to escape the stress of everyday life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just gives you that ability to let your creativity express itself in the most organic way possible,\u201d said Sean Seal, a hearing aid specialist from Long Beach who has attended several of Mino\u2019s classes and even celebrated his 30th birthday with a paint-and-sip party.<\/p>\n

Her warm approach and openness are what stood out most to him, Seal said, \u201callowing you to be creative in a nice, positive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mino aims to lead by example when it comes to overcoming challenges and taking matters into her own hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe sets up chairs, tables, easels, all on her own,\u201d said Marek Dzida, director of Hellada Gallery, where Mino has recently resumed in person classes. \u201cShe\u2019s a one-woman show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic has put that resilience to the test once more. \u201cIt makes you or it breaks you,\u201d Mino said of a challenging time like the current. \u201cYou can bend as long as you don\u2019t break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her experience as an immigrant\u2014Mino moved to the U.S. from a small town in Northern Italy nine years ago\u2014has taught her to bend, readjust and fight for every opportunity, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have a safety net\u2014family, friends\u2014everything is new,\u201d Mino said. \u201cYou have to become like a tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the state moved to allow in-person gatherings to resume, Mino has observed a change in her students. \u201cPeople are more grateful,\u201d she said, adding that they seemed more appreciative of the sense of community the classes offer.<\/p>\n

Her business, she noted, was able to survive with the help of a $5,000 grant from TMC Community Capital, as well as a lot of her own sweat and\u2014at times\u2014tears. It also offered her to fulfill a longtime dream of hers to travel to Hawaii. Soon, she\u2019s hoping to offer classes there as well.<\/p>\n

Paint for a Purpose<\/a> is located at 3780 Kilroy Airport Way, suite 200. They can be reached at 562-666-2517.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ylenia Mino’s company, Paint for a Purpose, offers painting classes for corporate and private clients\u2014hosting as many as 200 people per event\u2014that range from team building exercises to birthday parties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":71673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002],"tags":[31901],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[19282],"class_list":["post-25720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-women-owned-business","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25720"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=25720"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=25720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}