Renewed and Connected
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 3 days ago
- 11 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
This week at ART YARD BKLYN, we explored the art of illumination with Karla. Seated in a circular formation, we drew portraits from observation with Evelyn. At PS 17, our young artists brought mythical creatures to life through brilliant colored illustrations. We also installed our newest exhibition at PS 6 and celebrated our Geminis!
In other Art News, we’re delighted to share a note from TJ, who has safely arrived in Ghana. Iviva invite us to a Brooklyn Trees Walking Tour. Meanwhile, Dennis connected with Fatima at the Success Academy Visual Arts Showcase. Plus, we’ve gathered a few exciting opportunities that might pique your interest!
Manuscript from the Latin words manus (hand) and scriptus (writing) literally means “written by hand.”
Illuminated from the Latin illuminare (lighted up). For a book to truly be illuminated, it had to be decorated with gold.
~ Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Minneapolis Institute of Art
AYB Artist Karla Prickett describes her process and inspiration AYB Advanced Studio on Zoom and comments upon the artwork created in this session. “When considering the over-arching theme of "literacy," I decided to explore Medieval Manuscript Illumination and its influences on later art movements and contemporary artists. There seemed to be parallels in the organization and elements of composition. Also, in the intent to decorate or enhance with color or pattern.
Medieval manuscript illumination (decoration) included small painted scenes called miniatures, intricate borders, ornate chapter letters, and elaborate full-page paintings.
My presentation took us from medieval manuscripts and tapestries to artists in the Arts and Crafts Movement to contemporary artists Kehinde Wiley and Roberto Lugo.
Marilyn repurposed a prior AYB floral collage adding an illuminated gold border, text and new collaged elements.
I like Rashidah's contemporary drawing (in progress) for a song book page in the layout style of Medieval hymnal pages.
Simone received several compliments on her bluebells and morning glories. I think they will be stunning in blue, black and gold - inspired by the Black Hours manuscript examples.
The portraits (both still in process) created by Assata and Cammi were stunning! Asada will illuminate adding gold and beautiful jewels. Cammi's leprechaun is somewhat unsettling in its expression and will incorporate green moss and gold highlights.
The arched top on Leah's "window of light" brought to mind many medieval artworks where figures or scenes were centered in a bordered window. The black contrast to the warm light of the windows is striking!
Vera's emblem-like drawing featuring the letter "S" for singling is beautifully enhanced with color, symbols and gold. Creating the piece in the shape of a mouth is fantastic!
Both Adji and Jacob included snakes in their pieces! I especially liked the entire background of snakes Jacob's and the narrative Adji shared about her Saturn subject.
Ed's Memorial Day piece has a very pleasing organization to a minimal composition in symbolic narrative. Great use of textures and the "millefleur" background border! Like the slight color shifts.
Meridith's painting is strong and direct! Referencing her current project creating work for her exhibition Peer at the Small House Gallery in London, the illuminated windows and "S" chimney smoke pull inspiration from the embellished "chapter letters" of the lesson.
I suggested Pat transform her drawing to a refrigerator magnet! Who doesn't need fridge reminder in Latin?! Great humor and the addition of color brings focus to the letter "F" and those golden fridge rays! Once the drawing is complete we will add to our Red Bubble storefront!
Sigrid began a moving piece with text which has been haunting her as a message to share with others. Love her hand lettering!
Neah’s bright colored butterfly is beautiful! Great patterned background in the graphic style Neah does so well!
For my own (Karla) collage I wanted to be pull several elements into my piece from the examples in the lesson. I used a printed page from an illustration in a 1919 art educator’s book. The framed image reminded me of pictorial panels in the medieval manuscripts. And, it included sunflowers which are Kansas! state flower. The sun-scape above also reflected a familiar sense of place. My background is pen and colored pencil in a more contemporary expression, influenced by the detailed patterns in medieval borders and Kehinde Wiley’s portraits. Printed birds from coloring book pages and vining leaves from 1940’s wrapping paper were inspired by the flora and fauna of medieval manuscripts and tapestries, William Morris from the Arts and Crafts movement and Kehinde Wiley floral backgrounds also inspired me to incorporate floral elements in the composition. Yellow and gold are dominant to provide illumination.
Thanks to all for a great session, interesting stories and super critique comments.”
This Tuesday at Advanced Studio in person at our studio at BWAC, we celebrated Gemini season with a recursion-themed lesson and a potluck birthday celebration.
Gemini feast and fresh mango cake made by Ty
AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau recaps: “I think I speak for all the Geminis in attendance (myself, Meridith, and Kevin) when I say I felt very loved and grateful for our beautiful community! I may be biased, but I think late spring is the perfect time of year for a party—the warming weather and the end of the school year make it a great time to bask in the now and look ahead to the next phase. With this in mind, I presented a lesson called The Portrait Ouroboros.
We opened the session by talking about recursion, defined by Wikipedia as follows: “Recursion occurs when the definition of a concept or process depends on a simpler or previous version of itself.” I offered the examples of two mirrors facing one another to create infinite reflections, or accidentally screen-sharing a Zoom window with a similar effect. The most immediate inspiration for this lesson was a mini portrait circle at the opening of our exhibition From A to Z at The Gallery at 180 Franklin Avenue, when Ajani started drawing me while I was drawing Ty; I was excited to expand on this experience in a lesson related to Gemini themes of twinning, doubling, and repetition. Bringing it all together, we viewed a drawing of the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail, from a late medieval Byzantine Greek alchemical manuscript; this famous symbol conjures associations of cyclical renewal.
Inspired by the Ouroboros, the 19 participants sat in a circular formation, each looking toward the next artist’s back, with drawing boards, pencil, and paper. Drawing from observation, each artist created a portrait from the unusual rear-three-quarters perspective, including a glimpse of the next artist’s drawing. Many also incorporated the following artists in the circle, receding in space, which resulted in intriguing compositional solutions. Each drawing both depended on and ultimately evoked the context of the entire circle.
I was impressed by the quality of the work, especially the acute observation of the contours of cheeks, glimpses of eyelashes, and complicated forms of the ear. Meridith and I speculated that the unusual vantage point contributed to this: unable to fall back on the landmarks of eyes, nose, and mouth that usually structure a portrait, participants were forced to confront the specifics of their subjects’ bodies and really see what they were looking at. Careful attention was given to details of hair, headgear, and jewelry, and participants mentioned feeling the love inherent in this act of attention. For some, it was their first time drawing a portrait; for others, it was their first time being drawn. Josue pointed out that it was also an opportunity to watch another artist at work and follow their process across the hour of drawing.
Leah’s drawing of Simone received many compliments for details and shading, with Ed dubbing it the “Mona Leah” after Jacob gave a compliment on the atmospheric effects in the depiction of farther-off artists around the circle.
Nuanced shading was also shouted out in Jeffrey’s portrait of Cheyenne (particularly the hair), Richie’s portrait of Ty, Kevin’s portrait of Richie, and Mia’s portrait of Jules.
We also noted the hair (and hat) textures in Leni’s portrait of Kevin and Simone's portrait of Jeffrey.
Meta Award to Ariel who was the only artist to include her own drawing of Jacob with in her drawing of Jacob and a bit of Jazz drawing Adji. Ed also managed to get several artists at work into his portrait of Ariel, Jacob and Jazz.
This is just to name a few; I was truly floored by each and every drawing that came out of this night, and I recommend lingering over them to note the immediacy, life, and sense of space achieved by the various compositional approaches.
Portraits in order by Jacob Rath, Jazz Guillet, Adji Ngathe Kebe, Mich Goenawan, Neah Gray, Gem Mercado, Josue Ramirez-Romero, Cheyenne Rivera, Jules Lorenzo, Ty Fletcher
A note to end on: the circle created a kind of symbiosis, in which each artist needed the artists in front of them to be there in order to make their artwork, and knew that the artists behind needed them in turn. Consciousness of this interdependence held the room entranced in focus for an hour, and left us all feeling a renewed sense of connection."
The end-of-year art exhibition at PS 17 is taking shape!
Teaching Artist Evelyn Beliveau recaps: “This week, Dennis, Leo, and I (Evelyn) worked on curating and installing the showcase of student work in the library, representing each of the lessons that our daytime classes and after-school group completed this year. We prepped the surface where we will be hanging work (right next to Gia’s beautiful mural!), decided where each project will go, and began installing.
Leo and Evelyn installing at PS 17
With so much completed artwork, we are only able to feature a handful of pieces from each project on the wall. As we explained to our docents in the after-school program, works are not chosen based on a value judgment, but rather on completion, showing a range of approaches to the lesson, and visually complementing one another on the wall. The remaining artworks will be available for viewing in portfolios during the exhibition.
During the after-school program, I worked with students in younger grade levels to execute Leo’s lesson inspired by the chimera, a mythical hybrid creature.
We challenged students to combine two animals into a new fantastical being, with the choice to invent imagery from their own memory or imagination or to make use of reference images of dogs, cats, snakes, birds, and dragons. Starting with pencil on paper, students went on to use Sharpies and limited palettes of four brush-tipped markers to bring their chimeras to life. Drawing from a reference isn’t always easy, and I encouraged students who were frustrated to try to articulate the difference between how their drawing looked and how they wanted it to look, so we could course-correct and develop their observational skills. By the end of class, the room was crawling with dog-headed birds, dragon-headed snakes, and snake-tailed dogs.
Dennis expands: “I took the 6th and 7th grade after school students to the library to give them a glimpse of the installation of our exhibition in process - they will be our docents (together with a few 4th graders) and it's important for them to participate in every step.
After the initial viewing and a round of questions and answers, Teaching Artist Marina Soliman continued their lesson in the library - this week was on pencil drawings of cityscapes. While the cityscapes are of imaginary cities, I always have to step back and remember that Jersey City (along with Brooklyn!) are the best places for seeing the Manhattan skyline. Let's see (next week) how the views from their city affect their drawings.”
Dennis shares his interaction with the Ms. Lobue, Librarian at PS 17:
Today Dennis and Leo began installing the end of year exhibition of ART YARD Art Matters at PS 6. They are making progress!
Installation in progress at AYB Gallery at PS 6
Can't wait for the opening!!! Stay tuned for details.
Other Art News
Dennis writes: “WOW! I attended Success Academy's Visual Arts Showcase in Chelsea this week - a packed house with a huge line waiting outside to get in!
ART YARD BKLYN Artist Fatima Traore, Success Academy's Visual Arts Specialist, was one of the organizers - and hosts - of the event, which featured over 350 works of grades K-12 students. Lots of portraits (some collage - some bedazzled - some painted -all gorgeous), ceramics, fiber arts (crochet, yarn paintings), photography, woodcuts - you name it.
Images from Success Academy's Visual Arts Showcase by Dennis Buonagura
A speech from SA's Executive Director was inspiring - especially her expressing the importance of the arts in SA's schools as co-curricular instead of extra-curricular.
I am so proud of Fatima - she has always been a kind and generous person, a patient teacher, and a great leader. Her success in this role is no surprise to me.
Many congratulations to Fatima, her team, and the SA students.
AYB artist TJ Edgar has officially landed in Ghana! After arriving Tuesday, TJ has been immersing herself in a vibrant new cultural landscape—and her enthusiasm is contagious.
She’s staying at an apartment complex that comes with some unexpected (and adorable) neighbors: a small herd of duikers, small creatures in the antelope family who freely roam the grounds. “Apparently there’s a whole bunch of them that live here!” she shared, clearly delighted animal lover that we know her to be.
Her academic home base is the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies, where lectures are underway. TJ describes their professor as “super nice” and full of insight, often taking the group on educational excursions throughout the city. So far, he’s been a generous and knowledgeable guide.
TJ has also been diving into the local food scene and enjoyed a flavorful first meal of beef stew with jollof rice.
She recently visited the National Museum of Ghana, where a series of vibrant paintings and textile based work caught her eye. TJ shares photos of her favorite pieces on view, adding. “We spent a bit of time looking around, and I think I’m going to go back next week to see if they sell prints!”
TJ's top favorite artworks from her museum visit. Photos by TJ Edgar.
AYB Teaching Artist Iviva Olenick writes: “Brooklyn Embroidered Oral History Garden Tours begin Saturday, June 14th with a walking tour of Kensington, Brooklyn’s Trees and Weeds. We’ll meet at the corner of Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway on the pedestrian lane of Ocean Parkway Malls. Horticulturalist Paul Joseph will be on hand to help identify local trees, describe which plants are native versus introduced, and discover overlooked benefits of weeds.
Our stroll will include pauses for sketching and making gentle tree bark rubbings. All supplies provided. Ocean Parkway is lined with benches for sitting as needed during plant discussions and sketching. Tour time: 60-90 minutes (starting at 10am - 11:30am). Sign up here on Eventbrite.”
Artists Opportunities
The Blick Art Materials store on 6th Avenue (Manhattan) has an open call for a group exhibition in celebration of Pride Month.
Fast turnaround—submit ASAP!
To apply, email 1–3 high-res JPGs of thematically appropriate work to: Blick6ave@dickblick.com
Include with each image:
· Title, date
· Materials
· Dimensions (work/framed)
· Value
· 1–2 line statement about why you chose the piece
Also include:
· Short paragraph artist bio
· Full name
· Name as it should appear on label
· Pronouns
· Email, phone
· Website & social media handles
Don't miss this chance to show your work!
AYB artist Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow is preparing for the upcoming exhibition Flux IV: Shared Grounds (June 28–August 10, 2025), presented by The Finnish Cultural Institute and Flux Factory at Hunter’s Point South Park in LIC.
She’s seeking a few additional performers for the opening day, June 28, to take part in the third iteration of her large-scale interactive work, The Picnic—a 40-foot-long quilt/garment!
Event promotional piece and Jodie performing The Picnic
Performers will wear colorful matching costumes, assist in carrying the garment’s 40' x 40' train using cardboard rolls, and engage in light choreographed movements. The piece includes inviting the public to picnic on the blanket with fruit.
This is a short-term, paid opportunity. Rehearsals will begin soon.
Reach out to Jodie (lynkeechow@gmail.com) to be part of performance.
💞
