From A to Z
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- May 2
- 8 min read
Updated: May 3
The opening reception is Saturday, May 3, 6–8pm!
Exhibition installation with Rainy, Ty, Neah, Maraya and Ajani at The Gallery at 180 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY:
Installing From A to Z at The Gallery at 180 Franklin Avenue.
Please join us for the opening celebration — DJ Abby will keep the music going, Reg Lewis will MC, Adji will offer tarot readings, and Ajani, Evelyn, and Mia will draw portraits. Plus, we’ll have a fabulous raffle featuring AYB merch, original art, and services!
Refreshments provided by Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, Critter Cookies, and Jan D’Amore Wines.
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We kicked off the week with Advanced Studio on Zoom, where AYB Intern Clementine Finn presented her first lesson: The Art of Four-Panel Comics, inspired by Japanese Yonkomas (or 4Komas).
Clementine writes: “This week we got together on Zoom to learn about the history of Four Panel Comics across two cultures- the US and Japan. Everyone was able to create a comic about whatever they liked, serious or comedic, as long as they stuck to a four illustration limit. The results were outstanding!
Many of our artists also revealed their talents as comics and told great jokes. Ed, Aaron, Rashidah, Assata and Lila created brilliant self-contained jokes that were all very relatable. Karla even cleverly used collage to include silly images juxtaposed against the text "Don't Laugh", pushing the medium of comics to its limit and also immediately making us all laugh!
Others focused on the power of telling a story with just images, like Meridith, Cammi, and Rachel. They all managed to convey a clear story told through gorgeous illustrations.
Simone and Neah both tackled issues close to home and created comics that really resonate with problems we face, showing that comics don't have to just be comedic. Nasir addressed his connection to the history of comics with his lovely homage to Spiderman, reminding us all that NYC has a big part in the history of comics!
Everyone did an amazing job with pushing themselves to try something they haven't before, and the results were fantastic!"
On Tuesday, in-person Advanced Studio at our BWAC studio was led by AYB Teaching Artist Jacob Rath.
Jacob explains: “I began class by telling the second Montessori Great Story: The Story of Life. This story explores the evolution of life on Earth — from single-celled organisms that helped cleanse the planet, to trilobites, sea lilies, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and eventually humans.
Advanced Studio Artists at work.
Artists created artwork in response. Many depicted prehistoric creatures, while others focused on the connection between water and the life it supports.”
It’s been a productive week in our AYB Art Matters school partnerships!
At PS 17 this week, our classes were finishing up previous projects and starting new ones. Dennis, Leo, Scarlett, Clementine, and Evelyn were present.
Evelyn recounts: “We were pleased to see our Grade 4 class again, after a few weeks away for Spring Break and the Women’s History Month project. Though it had been a little while since they created the pencil drawings for their Magritte-inspired This is not a … still life pieces, they jumped in readily for the final phase of this project—watercolor painting—and finished their artworks.
Grade 6 picked up where they had left off with 0-3, a project inspired by Jasper Johns’s 0-9 series. Previously, they created a border, then drew the numerals 0, 1, 2, and 3 superimposed on one another, creating kaleidoscopes of overlapping lines and shapes. This week, it was time to add color. Within each shape, students chose two colors and created a gradient in watercolor paints, aiming to ensure that no two adjacent shapes would share the same color. Based on their progress so far, these will turn out as mesmerizing abstract paintings.
Grades 1 and 2 started our new project: The Shape of Music. This lesson is inspired by the AYB Advanced Studio mural “Resonating Chamber,” which explored how sound and space interact by using the shapes of musical instruments. With a selection of musical instruments familiar to the students—trumpet, flute, violin, and piano—we learned how to simplify shapes into contour drawings based on printed reference images. Students completed their line drawings in pencil and Sharpie and are ready to move on to the next stage.
Dennis continues: “Teaching Artist Marina Soliman together with Teaching Artist Lionel Emabat and Interns Clementine and Scarlett hosted our (now large) group of afterschool students in a step-by-step instructional lesson in drawing animals.
Students learned about animal anatomy and discussed different personality traits that animals have - whether domesticated or wild. I was rooting for drawings of squirrels, rats, and pigeons but the students drew dachshunds, rabbits, cats, and birds with various degrees of shading and student driven techniques.
It's often difficult to work with big groups of students - especially when ages vary - so our team is in discussions about once again hosting separate lessons, altho simultaneously. Everyone worked well together, mind you - the size is not the really big issue - it's that some students started weeks/months ago and another large group joined us only about 4 weeks ago. Get the picture?”
At PS 6, we finished up the lesson entitled “Portrait of a Friend Reading,” inspired by Gwen John’s painting Dorelia by Lamplight à Toulouse (1903-1904). Evelyn summarizes: One student from each class modeled for live portraits drawn and painted by their classmates. Students in Grades 5, 4, and 2 worked on this project, learning observational portrait drawing skills and watercolor techniques.
Dennis, Gem, Clementine, Scarlett, and I (Evelyn) were here, on Clementine and Scarlett’s last day in the schools before heading back to Vermont! We will miss them greatly, and all their enthusiastic and diligent help during their time with AYB.
Grade 5 enjoyed a double art class to make up for the class they missed for a field trip before Spring Break. They started adding watercolor to their pencil drawings in the morning, and returned after lunch to finish up. Our Grade 4 and 2 classes, who had started watercolor during a previous week, picked up where they had left off.
Each class undertook a robust critique. With artwork displayed on the wall, students raised their hands and came to the front of the room to point out comparisons and contrasts between their peers’ artworks, often noting differences in color choices, pose as seen from different positions in the room, stylistic interpretations, and the amount of detail included in the background. Then, we went around the room and every student gave a compliment.”
Other Art News
Congratulations to AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau, who has work featured in Cause and Effect at Incubator Studio Gallery, 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn. The show runs May 5–25, 2025, with an opening reception on Sunday, May 4, 1–5pm. Evelyn thanks AYB Artist Candy Heiland for the introduction to the gallery.
In class this week, AYB Artist Elizabeth Morales shared that painting felt a bit unusual — she’s been intensely focused on charcoal drawing lately. And it shows! Look at this stunning recent work:
AYB Artist Elias Silva has another fantastic painting underway:
Inspired by the dramatic arched windows at BWAC, Mia Lew created this stamp design:
I’ve been joyfully immersed in creating a miniature retrospective for my upcoming exhibition at Small House Gallery One & Two in London. The project features tiny versions of my paintings, a scaled model of my studio, replica of the room in which the Small House Galleries are located, and even a micro-mini dollhouse within the dollhouse.
Yes, the invitation cards are tiny—and readable! I used the drawing from our recent Good Night Moon session as the image.
Meridith McNeal, Peer (in progress), 2025, mixed media installation, various dimensions
Liv Collins and Lenika Silva enjoyed a beautiful spring day Plein Air painting at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Liv shares: “Surrounded by blooming flowers and the rich colors of spring, we soaked in the beauty of the season. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and set the perfect scene for a creative afternoon.
Under the pink petals, we set up our watercolor materials and let the inspiration flow. I painted a landscape of the blossoms in front of me, while Leni worked on a beautifully decorated letter for a friend.
Drawing by Liv Collins, art supplies, and drawing by Lenika Silva
It was more than just an art outing — it was a refreshing moment of connection with nature and the spirit of spring.”
I guess mini-galleries are in the air! After installing at The Gallery at 180 Franklin Avenue, Ajani and I came across a tiny gallery housed in a red call box. It even has a working curtain with pull cords! We were delighted by the surprise — a perfect reminder that art can live anywhere, at any scale.
Photos by Meridith McNeal
AYB Artist Vera B. is always alert to interesting public art. This week she spotted Listen, a sculpture by Jim Rennert, on the corner of 6th Avenue and West 55th Street in Manhattan.
Jim Rennert, Listen, on site photos by Vera B.
We both loved how curious and engaged the small art viewer depicted in the sculpture is. Vera said a child carefully touched the piece to check the material — and reported that it is very hard!
Gratitude & Support
And if all of the above wasn’t exciting enough, we are thrilled to announce that:
AYB Advanced Studio Well Read: The Year of Literacy has received support from the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) through the Brooklyn Arts Fund, as well as funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.
Additionally, we have received a donation from Blick Art Materials.
🪩🪩🪩🪩!!!
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