Cathy Moriarty pushes for equal opportunity in the arts

With her throaty voice, platinum blonde tresses, porcelain complexion and high cheekbones, Cathy Moriarty exudes a movie star presence as she walks through the door of Galerie BelAge in Westhampton Beach on a glorious spring day.

The actress—who was nominated for an Academy Award for her starring role opposite Robert DeNiro in the 1980 film “Raging Bull”—warmly greets the gallery’s director, Robert Deets, filmmaker Frank Cento, and artist Candyce Brokaw and gets right down to business.

Ms. Moriarty is not interested in talking about her latest acting projects nor her nearly 30-year career as a Hollywood actress. No, on this day—and on most days—Ms. Moriarty would rather talk about a topic close to her heart: why it’s so important to help people with developmental disabilities, especially children, reach their full potential.

“I believe that everybody was put here for a reason. And everybody—whether it’s a child with autism, a survivor of trauma or abuse, or someone living with a physical disability—has something to offer and deserves a chance,” she says. “Sometimes all it takes is someone else who truly believes in and sees the light shining within them to make a world of difference.”

These days, Ms. Moriarty regularly speaks at schools and works one-on-one with autistic children and their parents on behalf of such organizations as the Darryl Strawberry Foundation.

“I prefer the hands-on work to all the black tie stuff,” admits Ms. Moriarty, who serves as the national spokesperson for Autism United. Locally, she is spokesperson for the Long Island-based organizations DDI (Developmental Disabilities Institute) and IGHL (Independent Group Home Living, Inc.).

On Sunday, June 22, the actress will moderate a “Surviving and Thriving” educational symposium at Galerie BelAge, designed to raise public awareness about the needs of disabled youth and adults. Panelists from several non-profit organizations will be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m. to discuss the services they provide, and answer questions from attendees.

Free and open to the public, the symposium ties in with the gallery’s current exhibition, “Breaking the Walls of Bias: Art by Survivors,” which was curated by Mr. Deets and Ms. Brokaw. On view through July 1, the exhibition is presented by the not-for-profit Survivors Art Foundation, an organization which Ms. Brokaw, the executive director, founded 11 years ago.

“Breaking the Walls of Bias: Art by Survivors” features art by individuals who have found their way out of life’s darkest moments, she says. They include children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders, Holocaust survivors, Guatemalan torture victims, cancer and AIDS survivors, and children from Kosovo and Bosnia whose artwork transcends the divides of a civil war.

Ms. Brokaw, who lives in Quogue, formed the Survivors Art Foundation as a way for disability and trauma survivors to heal through the visual, literary and performing arts. As a teenager, Ms. Brokaw was raped and sexually abused and suffered from those scarring memories until the mid-1990s, when she embraced art as a therapeutic way to deal with her inner rage and pain.

“We are who we are because of our histories, and if our experiences are traumatic, they will be reflected in the art we make,” she says.

Originally launched as an internet-based art gallery for other trauma survivors, the Survivors Art Foundation web site quickly took off, attracting work by emerging and well-known artists from 47 states and 13 countries. Five years later, the group mounted its first major exhibition at Hofstra University and since then has spread its net with shows and outreach projects at conferences, the United Nations, and the Lilith Fair concert tours.

Now, with the help of Mr. Deets, Ms. Brokaw has brought the works of many of the artists from the Hofstra exhibition back to the East End, with additions by new artists. On view are more than 100 paintings, sculpture, multimedia and video works by artists from every age and social circumstance, some hailing from as far away as The Netherlands, Canada, Brazil and Guatemala. In addition to Ms. Brokaw, local participants include David Joel of East Hampton and Bennett Blackburn of Cutchogue.

The show features artwork by children from Kosovo and Bosnia, and orphaned Vietnamese children who have been rescued from human trafficking and are now learning to paint.

“We also have a few children of Holocaust survivors in the show, and one of the artists, Hedy Page, is illustrating a book dealing with children and disabilities, so I began thinking that the focus for the symposium should be about children,” said Ms. Brokaw, who shared her thoughts with Frank Cento, a Westhampton-based producer/director/editor who is currently filming a documentary about the Survivors Art Foundation.

Hearing about Ms. Page’s book and the children’s art made Mr. Cento think of Ms. Moriarty, whom he has known since their early days at the Actor’s Studio in New York.

“Cathy had just told me about a very talented 14-year-old boy with autism named Fahiym Williams, whom she is sponsoring through DDI,” he said.

“Fahiym is a brilliant artist who has been drawing since he was 2. He really speaks through his art,” says Ms. Moriarty, adding that the boy’s near-flawless portraits of sports figures like Venus Williams, Alex Rodriguez and David Beckham were featured in Sports Illustrated Kids magazine. “Frank suggested I call Candyce, who immediately wanted to include his art in the show.”

Although the two women met only about a month ago, they quickly bonded because of their shared vision for helping others with disabilities and traumas.

“Once I met Cathy, the idea for the educational symposium just came together,” says Ms. Brokaw.

Participating in next Sunday’s symposium are representatives from Best Buddies (founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver); AHRC Nassau; the Theresa Foundation; and the NYU Child Study Center. Other speakers include: author and autism advocate Barbara Fischkin; artists Eric and Hedy (Pagremanski) Page; and Quogue-based dance therapist Linni Deihl, who is the director of dance arts for the Survivors Art Foundation. Ms. Brokaw will speak about the Survivors Art Foundation, and Ms. Moriarty will serve as moderator. Fahiym Williams also is expected to attend.

At last weekend’s opening reception, Legislator Jay Schneiderman’s office presented Mr. Deets with a citation for the gallery’s philanthropic efforts. Ms. Moriarty also was the surprise recipient of an award for her contributions.

“They’ve both been so generous. The gallery has paid for all the invitations, events and advertising,” Ms. Brokaw said. “Since SAF takes no money from the participating artists, the gallery has promised to make a donation to SAF at the end of the show.”

Mr. Deets, who has an adopted 14-year-old son with special needs, says he’s happy to help. In fact, 100 percent of all sales generated from the Vietnamese orphans’ art will be returned to the children, as will all proceeds from Fahiym Williams’s drawings (from $100 to $150 each). The most expensive piece in the exhibition is a painting by David Joel, priced at $20,000.

Ms. Moriarty says she is amazed by the artwork in the show and how “each one of these survivors is showing how they’ve worked through their issues and how far they’ve come.”

Ms. Moriarty, who lives in Hampton Bays and is the mother of three young children, acknowledges that if she hadn’t become an actress, she would have become a special education teacher.

“I love kids. When I was a young girl, I was friends with a girl with Downs syndrome who spoke through her paintbrush and piano. I loved her and protected her,” she says, “I’ve always liked creating a nice safe haven for people who need it.”

Although Ms. Moriarty doesn’t dwell on it, the Bronx-born actress is a survivor in her own right. At 18, she was working in the garment district and waitressing at a seedy restaurant when she was discovered by director Martin Scorsese at a casting call. Despite having little acting experience and no SAG card, she was cast opposite Robert DeNiro in “Raging Bull,” which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Another film, “Neighbors,” with John Belushi and Dan Ackryod, followed and the young actress’s rise to stardom appeared certain.

Then, a year later, a serious automobile accident left her with a broken back and physical injuries that haunt her to this day. The long recovery contributed to a five-year absence from the screen.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that Ms. Moriarty’s career got back on track with her appearances in a number of movie hits, including “Kindergarten Cop,” “Soapdish,” “The Mambo Kings,” “Forget Paris,” and “Casper.” Her scene-stealing role in 2002’s “Analyze That” reunited her with former costars Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro (whom she regularly calls upon for donations to her charitable causes). Married to entrepreneur/developer Joseph Gentile, Ms. Moriarty is also co-owner of several successful Mulberry Street Pizza restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Last year, she and her husband acquired, through their company Utopia Studios, the historic Loew’s Paradise Theater in the Bronx, which they’ve renamed Utopia’s Paradise Theater. The couple are working on several projects at the theater, including a daytime talk show, “Tea with You,” and “Kids-O-Rama,” a Sunday morning program that will be broadcast in English and Spanish.

Locally, she teaches children as part of Bay Street Theatre’s Young Playwrights Program, and just launched—with Mr. Cento—the East End Theatre Gang, an acting troupe for elementary school children. She and Mr. Cento also are working on a script for a “Sesame Street”-style television show for children with disabilities of all types.

“There are two kinds of people in this world, the givers and the takers, and Candyce Brokaw and Cathy Moriarty are definitely givers,” Mr. Cento said.

“Breaking the Walls of Bias: Art from Survivors,” presented by the Survivors Art Foundation, will be on view through July 1 at Galerie BelAge on Moniebogue Lane in Westhampton Beach.

The “Surviving and Thriving” educational symposium, moderated by Cathy Moriarty, will be held Sunday, June 22, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Also in conjunction with the exhibition, more than 20 members of the North Sea Poetry Scene, led by Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, presented a poetry reading (with open microphone) on June 14.

For more information, call (631) 288-5082.