I deepen the words as if I were painting
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- Jun 6
- 11 min read
Updated: Jun 8
We began the week in Advanced Studio on Zoom with AYB Artist Ajula Van Ness-Otunnu presenting Interior Cartography: Mapping the Undefinable. While this was Ajula’s first foray into teaching an AYB class, her background in poetry and visual arts, coupled with her intellectual prowess provided the perfect platform from which to engage the group!
Ajula shares her process and thoughts on this session: “For lesson during the Year of Literacy at ART YARD BKLYN, we ruminated on a literary theory by the high romantic poet John Keats and the bewitching words of writer Clarice Lispector who wrote in her dizzying unorthodox literary gem, Agua Viva, “I want to write to you like someone learning. I photograph each instant. I deepen the words as if I were painting, more than an object, its shadow.”
Keats’ theory of negative capability states that a great poet is “capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason” (poetry foundation). This literary foundation was coupled with the a few pieces, the primary reference being Julie Mehretu’s large scale works that draw upon architectural and cartographic aesthetics.
In 2021, I went to the Whitney Museum and stood in front of those enrapturing scenes of political, personal, geographic memory superimposed upon one another. These references proved to be challenging and rewarding as students came together to map their ideas while embracing uncertainty.”
Our Interior Cartography is varied as one would expect -- Adji, Simone and Travis worked symbolically. Ajula, Leah and Richie abstractly rendered emotional maps. Karla cut up and reconfigured an old hand drawn map by Meridith. Meridith mapped the places represented in her doll house project. Marilyn and Ed charted the garden in action and artistic representation respectively. Rashidah the confusing geography of Queens, while Mich draws the Lower East Side. Fatima's depiction of her travels hearkens to Julie Mehretu stylistically. Pat surprised us all working sculpturally , and Abriel (Bob) making 8 drawings both in an intuitive representations of the prompt.
Adji comments: I want to thank Ajula for a thought provoking class. I missed poetry and it great to think about a map of ourselves and our interior worlds. It also made me think of Jules class who also did a lesson on maps. I like when people have similar ideas because it shows there’s a common thread to our lived experiences and the things we think about!”
Karla writes: "Mapping an Experience. In the summer of 2023, I was hosted by Meridith for a co- teaching residency with Art Yard summer session. Living in Kansas, traveling from one place to the next is NOTHING like NY trains and busses!!! This collage includes all the hand-drawn elements of a map Meridith drew for me to go uptown from Brooklyn and back. We were sitting at her dining room table at the end of a long day.
Central to this collage composition are a table and two chairs cut from a 100-yr old map of the county in Kansas where I live. Below the table and chairs is a cut shape representing a floor rug. It is cut from the printed side of Meridith's mapping.
Evening conversations after dinner were a lovely memory of my NY AYB experience!"
Pat Larash, Interior Cartography
On Tuesday with AYB Artist Jacob Rath, Advanced Studio in person investigated the provenance of NYC place names. We had a great time sharing the etymologies we were familiar with and were fascinated to learn more from Jacob!
Jacob recounts: "In my class I discussed the origins of place names. The place names of New York reflect the history of the people that lived in the region. The earliest names (such as Manhattan) come from the Lenape people, followed by names of Dutch origin, then British colonial names, and finally names that came about in the modern era. Students made paintings of a particular place that demonstrated why the place got its name.
Ajula made a painting of a crow, since some people believe Crown Heights was originally named for the crows that lived there.
Liv made a painting full of luscious greenery to represent Greene Ave.
Ed made a painting of D.U.M.B.O. which featured the Manhattan Bridge.
Grace painted a Coney Island inhabited by rabbits, since the word "Coney" comes from the Dutch word for rabbit "konijn."
(Left) Deed for the purchase of the land called “Conyne Island” from Guttaquah and other leaders, May 1654. New York City Municipal Archives. (Right) Jeffrey Lindberg, Coney – A Trip to Luna Park, Concept Illustration
Leah began a detailed drawing of her hometown Cincinnati referencing a photo from the 1970's.
As the semester comes to a close Managing Director Dennis Buonagura and his team are wrapping up projects, installing exhibitions, and training student docents at ART YARD Art Matters partnership schools PS 6 and PS 17.
Teaching Artist Evelyn Beliveau writes: “PS 17 Exhibition installation continues at PS 17! Dennis, Leo, and I (Evelyn) were on hand to tackle this job. After Leo finished preparing our allotted bookcases earlier this week, we spent Wednesday installing the remaining work: projects inspired by Keith Haring from the very start of the semester, and a sampling of projects done by our after-school students. A few accordion-folded collaborative works from the Shape of Music project are in place on top of the bookcases, and more will be arranged on tables nearby for the opening reception next week.
Our student docents joined us partway through the day and assisted with adhering the appropriate wall label next to each group of work. Then, they worked with Dennis to add the remaining artworks to portfolios—not an easy task, with many works of different sizes needing to be sorted out. Meanwhile, I joined Leo to add color to his linework for the exhibition banner (“Art Matters at PS 17”) and the ART YARD BKLYN logo, both on circular panels. With these installed, the exhibition is just about ready for viewing!
Dennis adds: “We finished up the installation in the library - Evelyn sorted through many more pieces and curated them on a library table first before hanging them. Everything looks excellent. Leo made signage for the top of the bookcases and he and Evelyn added colors using brush tipped markers - and we all pondered about the proper placement until we all agreed.
The docents (Waida, Aliyah, Nathleen, Justin, Julianna) learned about each project and were given copies of the labels for further information (and to read and practice at home) - as well as learning their introductions and the general formalities being a docent.
During the installation and docent training process, the school held a book sale - so it was busy every inch of the library.
The docents also put dozens if not hundreds of art pieces into portfolios (and taped where needed) and helped put the library back the way we found it prior to installation.
At 3PM, after-school began - Marina worked with the 6th and 7th graders (our docents!) in the continuation of last week's cityscape project - while the younger students worked with Leo on folded paper mandalas and lessons in shading.”
PS 6 had a double header week of AYB programming!
Dennis reports: “On Thursday, Leo, Evelyn, Litzy and I (Dennis) finished up the installation at PS 6 and tidied up the gallery for Friday's docent training. Litzy worked further on the comic project while Evelyn spearheaded the installation of the illuminated letters pieces - and Leo tweaked the puppet display and also reached lots of the high spots for all of us. We also filled the portfolios and picked up many fallen tacks.
Sounds like they did all the work and I just directed traffic, right? Well - SOMEONE has to document the process for the recap - right?
Mrs. Bracken had a few classes come and go for library studies - but they were bursting with curiosity to know what was going on in the gallery. When I told them that there were hammers and tacks and other kinds of sharp things and that they could come in if they kept their hands at their sides and just looked - and that they did! Excellent behavior. A few first graders read the comics aloud and all were gaga over the puppets.
Guillermo (first grader) asked me if I was a puppet before I became a little boy. I said "Maybe. Were you?" and, with arms akimbo, he said defiantly "yes".
More from Dennis: "Docent training on Friday at PS 6 was a success - and no real surprise. Students at this school are attentive, interested, and help each other. We had 2nd, 4th, and 5th graders - Nilan, D'Marco, Hattie, Milan, Joshua, and Sandihya - all arrived for training on time and prepared to get started. Each one participated in our programming this year so they gave great insight to the others about their lessons.
After repeating proper introductions and learning about the projects, we worked on common questions a docent might be asked, how to keep a group together, retaining eye contact where possible, politely telling visitors not to touch the art - etc.
I was assisted today by Litzy Duran who acted as a mock visitor to the gallery and received tours. Litzy is also working on some last minute signage at home this week - which we'll need to install VERY early on Thursday morning before the opening.
Only drawback today was the heat!!!! Yuck!
Oh - and prior to the start of docent training, we were visited by Mr. Hamilton's class (his students worked on the illuminated letters) who loved seeing their work on display. It was a great prelude to training as their questions were used for practice purposes for our docents."
Other Art News
We’re thrilled to share exciting news from AYB Artist Elizabeth Morales!
Elizabeth is graduating this June and will begin her studies at Baruch College this fall. Despite a demanding spring semester—including final exams and helping care for her father after surgery—she has continued to thrive both academically and artistically.
As an active participating artist at ART YARD BKLYN, Elizabeth credits the community with offering her a space to express herself, grow creatively, and feel deeply supported—an especially meaningful experience as a first-generation college student.
She’s also been sharing ART YARD with her professors and fellow students at BMCC, eager to connect more young artists with the vibrant community she’s found here.
We’re especially excited to share that her final project—a carefully observed and moving portrait of her father, rendered in charcoal with great care and emotional depth—will be featured in the BMCC Student Art Show next year!
Congratulations, Elizabeth! We’re so proud of your achievements and look forward to seeing all that you accomplish next.
AYB Artist TJ Edgar, now a student at Spelman College, recently completed a six-credit interdisciplinary course focused on the transatlantic slave trade—a powerful and immersive program that took place across two continents.
In the final week of the course, TJ shared reflections from Ghana: “Okayyy so this week was fun! We started off with a visit to the oldest cocoa farm in Ghana—tasted fresh cocoa right from the pod. It was surprisingly fruity, almost banana-like. On Sunday, we traveled to Cape Coast, a city with deep historical ties to the transatlantic slave trade. At the Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River Site, we stood where enslaved people were given their last baths before being sold and shipped away.
On a lighter note, our hotel—Coconut Grove—was beautiful! I found out celebs like Will Smith and Serena Williams have stayed there too.
The next morning, we visited Cape Coast Castle. That was deeply emotional. We saw the dungeons where enslaved people were held while awaiting the ships to the Americas. The conditions were heartbreaking.
Back in Accra, we spent time at the national archives, researching documents related to the slave trade. On our final day, we visited a local market, bargaining for souvenirs and clothes, and caught a beautiful view of Accra from the mountains.”
TJ also shared a striking photo of a mural at the Ancestral Slave River Site and a particularly moving image of the "Door of No Return" at Cape Coast Castle: “It’s the same door. Enslaved people walked out of the ‘Door of No Return’ before being forced onto ships. But now, the reverse side bears a plaque reading ‘Door of Return.’ In the 2010s, activist groups brought the remains of two enslaved people back from the U.S. to Ghana. They were carried through that very door in a powerful ceremony symbolizing homecoming. That moment gave the door a new meaning.”
This experience has left a lasting mark on TJ’s academic and artistic journey—bridging history, identity, and healing through immersive learning.
I'm excited to share a preview of my (Meridith) newest painting for Peer, my upcoming exhibition at Small House Gallery in London this fall. This piece imagines a gallery storefront—an invented London facade standing in for Small House itself, with its name rendered in gold on the front door.
In the large front windows are miniature versions of two earlier works: Inside Outside Filaments and Inside Outside Graceful Confusion (both from Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn). The storefront becomes a kind of viewing device, playing with scale, suspended reality, and layered place. Brooklyn and London fold into each other across panes of painted glass.
In order to have the two depicted buildings match in height and number of floors—like the side-by-side uniformity of Brooklyn row houses—a friend in London is making a custom box that will attach to the front of the painting, making the gallery appear to have a street-level entry with my art in the windows.
The piece is painted to suggest both transparency and reflection—as if one can peer into the imagined interior of the gallery while also catching glimpses of what might be across the street. Like the larger works the installed painted faced will explore the tension between internal and external space.
AYB Summer Session 2025
Migration: From Here to There
July 7–24 | 11:30am–3:30pm
At BWAC or on field trips as noted
We’re excited to announce AYB Summer Session 2025, a free, three-week series of workshops open to the public. This year’s theme—Migration: From Here to There—invites participants to explore movement in all its forms, from animal migration and environmental shifts to the personal and political realities of relocation and displacement.
Summer Session has consistently fostered a strong sense of community and social engagement through art. The 2025 theme was developed in line with our ongoing commitment to supporting marginalized communities, and to creating a welcoming space where people of all backgrounds can connect through shared experiences and artistic exploration.
Registration opens at the end of June via our website — first come, first served! All classes are free and designed for participants of all ages and experience levels.
Teaching Artists + Schedule
Week 1
Mon July 7 – Assata Benoit: Color Theory / Color Migration
Tue July 8 – Jacob Rath & Leni Silva: Small House Gallery – Hold Dear art making
Wed July 9 – Adji Kebe: FIELD TRIP to Jack Shainman Gallery to see work by Toyin Ojih Odutola
Thu July 10 – Golnar Adili: Migration chosen/forced – artwork inspired by the keffiyeh and other traditional patterns
Week 2
Mon July 14 – M. Boucai: Movement and performance-inspired visual art
Tue July 15 – Jacob Rath & Leni Silva: Small House Gallery – Hold Dear art making
Wed July 16 – Adji Kebe: Travel by water, inspired by the film Atlantics by Mati Diop
Thu July 17 – Mia Lew: Creating stamps and passports
Week 3
Mon July 21 – Iviva Olenick: Immigration Landmarks
Tue July 22 – Jacob Rath & Leni Silva: Small House Gallery curate, document & promote
Wed July 23 – Adji Kebe: Migration in poetry and visual art
Thu July 24 – Ajani Russell: Jacob Lawrence & butterfly patterns + final celebration
AYB studio at BWAC
Join us this summer as we move, reflect, and make art together in our fabulous studio at BWAC in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Follow us for updates and registration info coming soon!
🩵💙💚❤️💛🩷✨
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