Our Face of the Northeast this week is Margarita Freidman, a new resident in the Pendleton ArtsBlock, 2300 Independence Ave.

Margarita settled into the newest apartment building on Independence Avenue in January after several years commuting back and forth from Kansas City to California, where she had a home and studio. Her son also lives in Kansas City.

A native of Mexico, she came to America in 1988 to obtain her bachelor’s degree and stayed to complete her master’s degree; she also earned degrees in Mexico.

A painter, she has trained in the Classical and Renaissance techniques, which focuses on movements and brush strokes. While living in New York City, she used these techniques to help provide physical therapy for clients, who also benefited from the emotional outlet painting provided.

This summer, Margarita organized sessions of Tai Chi that are held on Saturday mornings at Independence Plaza Park because she feels the park next to her home needs to be used more by residents.

“So many parks here, but no one uses them,” she said. “In New York, the parks are always full of people.”

The next Tai Chi session will take place on September 5 and will continue twice a month, weather permitting.

Margarita would like to expand activities in the park and thinks a Karate program would greatly benefit the teenagers in the area and provide them with a positive activity that could prevent them from joining gangs.

“Northeast reminds me of New York, with so many different people,” Margarita said. “There are the beautiful gardens, the museum, the artist community is growing. This place, it represents the world.”