When news of Sammy Sosa's home run number 66 reached the largely immigrant population of New York City's Washington Heights the effect was electrifying," says Painter Stephen Beveridge. "'Sosa 66', a new painting dealing with immigrant issues such as pride and isolation, is being exhibited in the Heights and the effect again is electrifying."
The larger than life painting with the words , Sosa 66 scrawled across it is part of a group exhibition at Art Interaction's Hintersteiner Gallery (711 West 168th St. New York City) through February 4.
Scottish born Stephen Beveridge, the painter of SOSA 66 and an immigrant himself, has lived in the Heights for ten years and wanted to express his feelings associated with arriving in a new country and leaving everything familiar behind. The painting exploring feelings of isolation and lonileness as a result of his immigration had been developing for over a month when one day, arriving back to the neighborhood, he found the words Sosa 66 written in soap on just about every car he could see. "People were honking their horns, waving Dominican flags, and music was in the air. There was a sense of pride and celebration on the streets that hometown boy Sammy Sosa had achieved 66 home runs. I went home and with a thick brush loaded with white paint wrote Sosa 66 across the top of the painting giving it a title and resolution in one stroke.

Artswire Open Home, 1999