Infused with spirit
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- Aug 15
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 3
While ART YARD BKLYN is officially on summer break, our artists haven’t slowed down one bit! From Brooklyn to the South of France, creativity is in full swing. Leni is hard at work designing the brochure for our upcoming Hold Dear exhibition, Kevin brought the community together with an art-making picnic in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Suzanne sends art-filled updates from her summer study abroad, and Karla wrapped up an ambitious collage for an exciting new show. Even on vacation, the art doesn’t stop!
What We Are Reading
While this section typically appears at the end of our recap, this week it felt right to begin here — with All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles. I’m only a few chapters in, but already deeply moved by the exquisite writing and profound emotional weight of the story.
“Humans are composite beings, made of matter and infused with spirit... The things we interact with are an inescapable part of who we are... The physical traces left behind therefore allow us to glimpse what our forebears found worthy of making and keeping, and what, by implication, they held dear.”— Tiya Miles
This quote resonates deeply with the premise of Hold Dear, our upcoming exhibition at Small House Gallery in London, created during AYB Summer Session 2025 and curated by Jacob Rath and Lenika Silva.
Rooted in this year’s program theme — Migration: From Here to There — Hold Dear explores memory and emotional attachment through miniature artworks installed in two connected houses. One house holds recreated objects left behind in past homes, evoking sacrifice, nostalgia, and loss. The other features objects chosen to carry forward — symbols of continuity, resilience, and hope.
Miles' narrative — centered on a cotton sack passed down through generations of Black women — speaks to that same tension between what we leave and what we carry. Her work honors the personal and historical weight objects can hold, especially in the face of displacement.
As we continue working toward the exhibition, this reading offers a timely and powerful reflection on the role of memory, love, and survival embedded in even the smallest things.
Art News – Far and Wide
On the last day of Summer Session Kevin had the great idea to have an informal art making picnic. Kevin organized and many AYB folks and friends gathered in DUMBO to make art in each other’s company.
Evelyn shares: “Here are some photos from our picnic/impromptu art sesh in Brooklyn bridge park yesterday!! What a testament to the strength and warmth of our community!”
Kevin adds: “We met yesterday evening and made art at Dumbo. These are pieces made by Cammi, Evelyn, Simone, myself (Kevin), Leah, Richie, and some new faces. We even had a critique and everything.
Photos from the day by Evelyn Beliveau and Kevin Anderson
After seeing everyone else draw from nature, I just had to join in and do a still life of the Manhattan Bridge. I've been trying to grow more comfortable with not just pastels, but not having to blend the colors perfectly, let alone get everything exact. And I believe I was able to accomplish that, with surprising results. I forgot how beautiful Dumbo is during the summer, and now I want to revisit it even more!”
A bit farther afield, while working on a summer course in the South of France AYB Artist Suzanne Santiago visited Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence to view Cezanne au Jas de Bouffan exhibition. The retrospective showcases a hundred pieces illustrating just how much the house influenced his art including Provençal landscape, portrait, and still life paintings.
Paintings by Paul Cezanne
She also visited Vieille Charité where she photographed the fish installation in a grand space. and Caumont Centre D’Art Aix-en-Provence to see a temporary exhibition of work by Niki de Saint Phalle and a store selling miniatures! Look at those tiny drums!!
Photos by Suzanne Santiago
Karla catches us up: “I finally finally finally finished my 3 foot square collage on canvas!!! It will go to a show in Hays, Kansas featuring works by layerists/multi-media artists! This piece has been on my easel since before the last AYB Advanced Studio semester started!”
Karla explains: "The piece is composed of elements from my grandfather’s architectural drawings from the 1920s, meticulous numbers from my dad‘s bookkeeping, ledgers and notebooks and floor plan illustrations from 1940’s schools. The work celebrates our shared love for detail…seems like it’s surely inherited!! All three of our signatures are in included in the composition."
Cheyenne shares her latest piece:
Three new paintings by Elias:
The air-conditioner in my (Meridith) studio is out of order, so I moved operations to my kitchen table and have so far painted two new pieces.
I (Meridith) am thrilled to have work included in Of the People at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts the exhibition considers American Democracy at the contemporary moment.
Meridith McNeal, Inside Outside Witch Store (Bushwick, Brooklyn), 2023, watercolor on paper, 43x59”
AYB Artists Assata, Travis, Leah, Lila, Abriel (bob), Candy, Free Inside, Meridith, Jacob, and Marie are included in the Banned Book Trading Card Project at the Valley Cottage Library.
And…
Congratulations to AYB Artist and Social Media Manager Liv Collins on her engagement! Liv and Thomas’s friends gathered to celebrate with them in a beautiful roof top party!
AYB Cheers to Liv & Thomas!
💚💖🩵💜🧡💙💛
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