There is quite a bit to report on at AYB this week. Be sure to read through to the bottom for some exciting party news and invitations.
On Saturday we set off on an Advanced Studio adventure with Teaching artist Iviva Olenick who led us on an unconventional art field trip: a botanical tour of Prospect Park, starting at Park or Machate Circle, where we encountered several native fruit trees, including Ficus carica, or common fig.
Iviva describes the day: “Too late in the season for fruit, participants gathered under the branches, examining the leaves and beginning an investigation of plant textures, smells, sounds and "scientific" versus colloquial names. We then made our way into the park, where we quickly found some plants of wonder, including Asclepias syriaca, also called milkweed, common milkweed or butterfly weed. The seed pods had burst open and seeds and silken "coma" or floss were distributing themselves across the landscape. We also found plenty of goldenrod, genus Solidago (there are many species and it's hard to distinguish one from another), another native plant that attracts bees, and plenty of asters (possibly Symphyotrichum novae-angliae or New England aster). We also saw many bees and geese, and algal blooms on one part of the lake.
As we visited different sites, participants naturally paused to sketch and look closely, some commenting that they had not recently focused on observational drawing, or that close looking and drawing plants and the natural world was outside their comfort zone. You wouldn't know that from the gorgeous works produced!”
Use arrows to view a sampling of our plein air sketches
Monday we jumped back into regular Advanced Studio on zoom with AYB Artist and certified Montessori educator Jacob Rath.
Jacob explains: “For my lesson, I told the first Montessori great fable, which is a story about the creation of the Earth, and the universe. The story is intended to be told for six year olds at the beginning of the year. The story discusses how the entire universe started out as a giant ball of heat and light, and how pieces of it fell off as it moved throughout the universe. One of these pieces became the sun, and one became the Earth. As the piece that became the Earth cooled, a crust formed. The Earth had a phase of millions of years where volcanoes erupted, and the Earth was covered in clouds. This was followed by a phase when there was tons of rain, and the water filled the cracks becoming the rivers, lakes, and oceans. We discussed the properties of gasses, liquids, and solids, and all of the laws that every particle in the universe follows.
In this people illustrated what they heard in the story. Some people, such as Meridith and Ed, focused on the scattering of the drops of light and heat as they became stars.
Many people made work about the relationship between the sun and the Earth. When describing Karla's work, Simone used the phrase "a very organized chaos," which described both Karla's work, her studio practice, and the story that I told.
Karla writes: “Thanks Jacob for a great lesson! I was unfamiliar with the Montessori cosmic fable Creation of the Universe story. The way you presented such a complex subject with comparative clarity inspired me to think about measurements and recording data. My composition references galaxies, stars and our solar system. Collage elements from an old astronomy book, handmade paper and red notebook cover. Compliments to all for your great visual interpretations!!”
In the story, I (Jacob) compared the Earth to an apple that became wrinkly because it had been left in the back of a refrigerator for over a month. This wrinkly apple is covered in volcanoes, and an ocean. There are clouds, but the sun is able to shine down on the Earth.
“If you struggle to find the right words, why not start with somebody else’s?”- Sean Glatch
AYB Artist Jules Lorenzo lead a fantastic AYB Advanced Studio session in person in our studio at BWAC which brought the poet out in all of us!
Jules summarizes: “For this week’s lesson, our students exercised (and succeeded in) the practice of blackout poetry! We started class by learning how blackout poetry originated while incorporating a little history about German expressionism in art and film. We took the moody and surrealist ideologies found within German expressionism and applied them into our creative process for our pieces.
Drawing and film still from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, 1920
Blackout poetry, a form of erasure poetry and found poetry, is basically where “the poet takes a found document, traditionally a print newspaper, and crosses out a majority of the existing text, leaving visible only the words that comprise his or her poem; thereby revealing an entirely new work of literature birthed from an existing one."- E. Ce Miller (Bustle)
Participating artists were provided with excerpts from books as well as cut out articles from magazines and took on the task to read between the lines to unearth something new, something that spoke to them deeper within the text that lay before them. ey were also encouraged to draw an image around the text they were redacting as an additional layer for this project!
Use arrows to scroll through images of session in action.
The work that came after was beyond what I could’ve even hoped for. Some students subverted the tone of their pre-existing text, for example Sammy turned an article about a journalist being angry with her annoying brother into a poem of admiration and care for his younger sibling.
Sammy Koepenick, Blackout Poem
Liv also took an excerpt from the first page of the Hunger Games where the main character expresses her distaste for her sister’s cat and turned it into a love poem full of whimsy and wonder.
Others formed an entirely new metaphor for the context of their text. Mich took an excerpt from Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth is initially rejecting Mr. Darcy. In their new found poem, they switched the rejection into a declaration of love. An underlying theme in their work regarded transformation. How something that was an irritant in the beginning (Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth bump heads when they first meet) can become something beautiful through a different lens (no spoilers but things work out well for both characters in the end)! To display this transformation, Mich created an oyster to frame their blackout poetry and explained how pearls are actually an irritant to the oyster they’re in, despite their alluring beauty.
Adji Kebe, Blackout Poem
Overall, the students took this challenge head on and absolutely crushed it! They made beautiful and emotional pieces that spoke to everyone in attendance that evening. It’s a practice I will definitely be revisiting again, especially when I’m in need of a fun cure for writer’s block. Cheers!”
Managing Director Dennis Buonagura reports on AYB Art Matters School Partnership planning: “Meridith and I met with Neal Singh (Director of Student Services and Special Initiatives for District 15 in Brooklyn) at his Board of Education office on Livingston street this week. Sensing a great collaboration might come of it, we were introduced to Mr. Singh by AYB parent Bree Whitlock.
Mr. Singh is greatly interested in our in school programming and will work hard to find us new schools in Brooklyn as soon as possible. He also told us about a district wide theatrical production that is presently in rehearsal and might want us to help teach students to design sets and create masks for their upcoming production of "The Lion King". If you've been a loyal reader of our recaps, you know that we EXCELLED in doing so for a production of "The Lion King" two years back in one of our Jersey City schools. Looks like ART YARD BKLYN will be back in Brooklyn very soon.
AYB Lion King sets, costumes and props created with Teaching artists Fatima Traore and Evelyn Beliveau at AYB Art Matters partnership school PS 17, Jersey City, NJ.
I also met with AYB teaching artist/muralist Giannina ("Gia") Guitterez this week to discuss designs (and schedules) for the PS 17 library wall mural. The school's principal requested an abstract design with a 'reading' theme involved (perfect for our Year of Literacy) - but designs evolve in different ways as we offer options to the school. Let's see where Gia's plans take us. Stayed tuned.”
Other Art News
I was excited to read in the New Yorker an enthusiastic mention of Rodney Ewing’s work in The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum on view through Jan. 26, 2025.
I asked Rodney if he would meet up with AYB Artists at The Brooklyn Museum he readily agreed! We will be planning that field trip soon, I will keep you posted.
Congratulations to AYB Supporter artist Deborah Simon on having her gorgeous new piece Athene Noctua included in The Contemporary Art Modern Project (The CAMP Gallery) annual fiber exhibition, 77Women Pulling at The Threads of Social Discourse, FAMA and Guests: We Got The Power.
What We're Reading
Dennis reviews: “I know nothing about birds, or birding - you'd think I might have learned something about them after living nearby to Central Park for all these years, but I don’t know a sparrow from a magnolia warbler. I read Christian Cooper's book "Better Living Through Birding: Notes From A Black Man In The Natural World" and learned a lot about how people behave and a lot about birds. I was interested in Cooper's story because I was a long-term volunteer for the Central Park Conservancy and the team I worked with was influential in obtaining the NYC Parks rulings (even tho we went to court, they're not laws but rules) about off-leash times and locations for dogs to run free (with supervision!) in city parks - and Cooper made big news a few years back after an encounter with an off-leash dog and the woman whose actions resulted in coining the term "Karen". Cooper's book only touches on that incident (not victimized but defiant) and it's about his love of birding, his career as a science writer, a comics designer/editor and an LGBTQ+ activist. He knows EVERYTHING about birds - and can still be found in NYC parks with his binoculars - and also hosts a nature series on Nat Geo. He lives in Brooklyn.
The New York Public Library offers referrals when one returns a borrowed book - which led me to read (currently reading) Amy Tan's book "The Backyard Bird Chronicles". I love Amy Tan's other books but this one is a detailed read about her own style of birding (from her home in Sausalito, California) AND it's illustrated with lovely drawings and paintings (by Tan) throughout. I almost hate to return it to the library! What I found fascinating is that Tan writes about developing personalities (of the birds) in her drawings and paintings in the same way she creates her characters in her fiction writing. It's as if the birds’ individualities and temperaments could be the basis for a reality TV series ("The Real Housebirds of Saucalito"?) - and she acknowledges that her bird portraits are not precise but are her depictions of the individual birds.
Images from Amy Tan's The Back Yard Chronicles
We once had a parakeet whose cage was left open so that he'd have room to fly. I now wonder if he was happy living in an apartment even with some freedom (I thought he was?). I don't think I could have a caged bird again - it would make me insane wondering if he was happy. I guess, after reading Cooper's and Tan's books, I've already made up my mind.”
AYB Artists and Joopi band members Liv Collins and Jules Lorenzo invite us to celebrate the release of their new album!!
AYB Artist and Event Chair Gem Mercado writes: “The Art Words Benefit is going to be a party you will not want to miss! We’ve got an exhibition of gorgeous paintings, live music, poetry readings, hand-made AYB Art Words bracelets, delicious food, wine and seltzer- what more could you ask for? Let’s do our best to get everyone involved to make sure AYB can keep running like the well-oiled machine it is.”
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P.S. FAN MAIL!!
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