Usdan to Presnet Student Exhibit in NYC, 5/7-25

The work of 23 visual arts students from Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the nationally renowned summer arts day camp, will be exhibited May 7-25 at the 7th floor gallery of the UJA-Federation at 130 East 59th Street (between Park-Lexington Avenues). The show, titled On Hope and Humankind, will feature painting, drawing, sculpture and multi-media work. It is the third and final exhibit in the largest series of off-site exhibits ever shown by the Long Island center, which for several years has displayed the work of its visual arts students on Long Island and New York City. The artists to be displayed were ages 10-18 when the works were created during the 2014 (the information included below are their current ages) season.

The artists are Christie Brand, 10, of Huntington; Ally Braunschweig, 15 of Jericho; Delaney Callaghan, 16, of Wantagh; Diya Chadha, 13, of Woodbury; Katharine Colgan, 13, of Sea Cliff; Delaney R. Cone, 15, of Patchogue; Rachel Dehan, 15, of Commack; Julia Ferrugio, 15, of Farmingdale; Jason Glazer, 14, of Plainview; Kristen Goepfert, 16, of Hicksville; Molly Kaye, 17, of Dix Hills; Adrian Ke, 13, of Roslyn Heights; Emily Kehrli, 18, of Merrick; Hannah Elise Kline, 14, of Manhasset; Jessena Maxwell, 16, of the Bronx; Ethan Means, 13, of Brooklyn; Justin Meyer, 16, of Huntington; Madeleine Mottel, 19, of Plainview; Ava Nederlander, 14, of Manhattan; Marie E. Saint-Cyr, 12, of Westbury; Sophia Santella, 15, of Centerreach; Sierra Schlesinger, 11, of Merrick; and Rachel Spiegler, 13, of Old Bethpage.

The previous two exhibits, titled Humankind: Portraits and Humankind, have been running at the lobby gallery at 430 Park Avenue in Manhattan during March and April. The exhibit there is free and open daily to the public during regular business hours.

Usdan Center is an agency of the UJA, although it is open to all children, and frequently creates works on Jewish themes. Last June, several of its visual arts classes collectively created a Holocaust-themed multi-media piece titled Hope, based on interviews with Holocaust survivors, and the work won a first prize in the annual student competition of Long Island¹s Museum of Tolerance. The work of all of the student artists in the previous two exhibits will be featured at the UJA gallery.

Usdan¹s former Manhattan exhibits have included In Focus, its 2014 display of student photography, and in previous years, shows combining painting, drawing and multi-media work. The Center¹s students have also had dedicated shows at the Huntington (Long Island) Library, the Atrium at Long Island¹s Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, the Heckscher Museum¹s ³Best of Long Island,² and other Long Island venues.

The exhibits are curated by Rochelle Morgan, Chair of Usdan Center¹s Visual Arts Department. Several teachers worked with the students over last summer to prepare the work for exhibit. They are: Lorraine Angeletti, Jackie Eggleton, Dan Gosnell, Heather Heckel, Melissa Johnides, Lori Oldaker, Lori Sklar and Bailey Whitney.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, on a magnificent 200-acre woodland campus in the Huntington section of Long Island, is now entering its 48th season. It has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 Tri-State Area children, many on scholarship, since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to all young people from ages 5 to 18, and no audition is needed for most courses, only an interest. Usdan offers more than 40 programs, in music, dance, theater, visual arts, creative writing, nature and ecology and chess, in flexible 3, 4 and 7-week sessions. Although the mission of the Center is for every child to establish a relationship with the arts, the unique stimulation of the Center has caused many to go on to arts careers. Alumni include Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, jazz star Jane Monheit, Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Hoffman, Olivia Thirlby, Taylor Dane and members of Broadway shows and major music, theater, and dance ensembles such as the Boston Pops and the New York City Ballet. Usdan¹s 2015 season begins June 29 and runs through August 14, and the Center is now holding Open Houses for it. For more information, write to info@usdan.com, Call (212) 772-6060 or (631) 643-7900, or visit www.usdan.com .

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