This beautiful weather ushered in a productive and exciting week for ART YARD!
At PS 6 in Jersey City Dennis, Fatima, Flávia and I installed our upcoming exhibition. The work included in the show is really beautiful! On view are large-scale paintings, collage, portraits, origami, drawings, sculpture and some fancy hand painted signage exploring our dual theme of Transformation and the celebration of the Centennial of PS 6.
Mark your calendars and please join us for the opening Friday June 7th from noon-2pm.
Last week I mentioned that Teaching Artist Claudia Alvarez graced the UCAE (University Council for Art Education) 2019 Global Perspectives on Art Education Conference as one of two inspiring Keynote Speakers. In her talk Claudia projected images of her own work in the studio and on exhibition; the work of students from her college level classes and dozens of our work together!
Claudia emphatically stated that in our programs “all of the students feel empowered by their engagement with art, and being a witness to this is very moving!”
In addressing the global audience participating (both in person at SVA Theater in Manhattan and virtually from around the world with real time live video) Claudia stated: “We may not all know each other but are part of a community with common goals to inspire, guide the lives of our students. With one other, each of us is part of a global community that is committed to art education. What we do and what we achieve might differ, but I think we all are here because we believe in the power of art to heal, enrich, and enlighten; in short, to improve the lives of those we teach.” Her talk moved the audience to spontaneous applause on more than one occasion.
Later that same evening found us in Red Hook at the Kentler International Drawing Space 100 Works on Paper benefit. It was a joyous night of art and fun as we raised money for Kentler and ART YARD programs. Thank you to all of our artists and interns who donated, volunteered, bought tickets for this event!
Kentler Director Florence Neal:
Earlier in the week Glendalys and I met with Alana Hairston, Director, Programming and Uzodinma Iweala, Chief Executive Officer of The Africa Center. This meeting is a result of Ardelia Lovelace, one of our students, sending an email to all of us in way of introduction!
There is a wonderful public sculpture in the courtyard by Hank Willis Thomas:
We are thinking about ways to collaborate! I will keep you posted with the details, of course.
Finally there are a few exhibitions to let you know about:
Teaching Artist Richard Estrin is in Parent Portraits at Westbeth Gallery, 57 Bethune Street, NYC on view through June 8, 2019.
Richard’s watercolors of his mother are masterful, evocative and quite moving!
Teaching Artist Golnar Adili’s solo-exhibition Domestic Poetic opens 7-9pm on May 31st at Fresh Window Gallery, 58 Bogart Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This exhibition focuses on Golnar’s process of deconstructing and reconstructing various mixed media bodies of work ranging from book arts to ceramics referencing the body, Persian poetry and the domestic realm. While Golnar's work evokes constraints both imposed in its making process and the content it explores it simultaneously provides a sense of inner freedom.
My newest painting is included in the 2019 Contemporary Art Survey at The Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, CO.
All the best for a wonderful week ahead,
PS: I just can't resist including this photo of ART YARD Teen Justin looking sharp for his Senior Prom!
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