Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe today joined student artists from NYC Public Schools, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Dennis Walcott, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs Kate Levin, Senior Counsel for the Office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Wendy Gellman, New York City Department of Education Coordinator of Visual Arts Karen Rosner, and guest artists Christo and Audrey Flack to present a student public art exhibition, on display through August in Parks throughout the city.
The exhibition features school lunchroom tables that the students transformed into colorful works of art that address important social issues in New York City and the world. They were created by Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp) in cooperation with NYC Parks & Recreation. It is the largest student art exhibition in the history of NYC parks.
"Once again New York City's schoolchildren will become the city's youngest public artists this summer, thanks to the efforts of LeAp," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner
Adrian Benepe. "There is no better place to kick off this annual, socially minded exhibit than in Union Square Park, where New Yorkers have been broadcasting their ideas for more than a century. The students' thought-provoking artwork is sure to enliven the city's parks and raise awareness of the issues that are most important to them."
The tables will be showcased as part of "A View from the Lunchroom: Students Bringing Issues to the Table," installed in ten community parks citywide. Developed by LeAp's Public Art Program, this fourth-annual citywide exhibition seeks to empower young people to have a voice in their communities to speak out on issues such as gangs, violence, homelessness, drug abuse, health care, and cultural diversity, among others-and become catalysts for social change through their art. Lunchroom tables are used as a canvas for this project as a symbol of student ideas and conversations.
LeAp teaching artists worked with students in ten schools to explore community issues, study the history and practice of public art, and ultimately create works on the surfaces of the lunchroom tables for public display. In addition, internationally-renowned guest artists Christo,
Julian Schnabel,
Milton Glaser, Audrey Flack, Tom Otterness, Vito Acconci, Christopher Wool, Emma Amos, Julie Heffernan, Will Ryman and Seth Wulsin met with students to discuss their work and the power and impact of public art.
Students at The Island School 188 in Manhattan addressed the issue of domestic violence through creating a game board mural about choices you make in life and their consequences. PS/IS 25's Staten Island students took on the problem of bullying in their vibrantly colored artwork, while students in Queens at PS 9Q examined the need for good health and nutrition. Manhattan students from 169M explored the issue of homelessness and Brooklyn students of 53K examined the good and bad attributes of their community and the need to maintain a positive outlook in life to overcome adversity, depicted in a dynamic and powerful work of art.
LeAp's Public Art Program exhibition was developed in cooperation with NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and supported by HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Hot Topic Foundation, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The Keith Haring Foundation, Kinder Morgan Foundation, Mariano Brothers Specialty Moving, Cher Lewis and Daughters, Astoria Federal Savings, Richmond County Savings Foundation, The Compleat Sculptor, Zabar's, Custom Metal Products and KADKO. Over the past 35 years, LeAp's professional artists, dancers, musicians, actors and writers have provided arts-based education programs to over two million children in grades K-12 throughout New York City. For more information, visit www.leapnyc.org.
