Rising 2009

Rising Artistic Noise & The Children’s Aid Society presents

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Shout Outs

Artistic Noise could not reach as many young people as we do without the support of many people. We would first like to express our deep gratitude to The Children’s Aid Society’s LINC Program, The Next Generation Center, The City Challenge Center, The Offices of Children’s and Family Services, The Brooklyn Residential Center, The Bronx Residential Center, The Dunlevy Milbank Center and The Museum of Modern Art. These partnerships enable us to create lasting programs in many different communities and facilities throughout New York City. We would especially like to thank Ana Bermudez, Angela Cooper, Lynne Echenberg, Leslie Smith, Eddie Britt, Denise Taylor, Joseph Dennison, Duande Martinez, Mr. Joaquin, Ms. Hayes, Ms. Fitts, Regina Fields, Ms. Espillat, Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Maurice as well as all of the staff at all of the sites that we work.

We would like to express our gratitude to the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, The Fund for the City of New York, Jen Song, Tomoko Mikawa and Calder Zwicky at the Museum of Modern Art and Bronx Museum. And Dipti Desai and Tammy Brown at New York University for opening their doors every year for this art exhibit.

We must express our deepest gratitude for the talent, creativity and hard work of our interns, Catherine Hutchinson and Anne de la Gueronniere.

We would also like to thank Francine Sherman, Minotte, John Ewing and Kate Jellinghaus of Artistic Noise in Boston for allowing us to continue their incredible work in NY. Without this collaboration the NY branch would not be possible.

And lastly, thank you to Kristin Lum for helping our young curators design this catalog.

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Rising We’re meant to be fulfilled and content yet we are never where we want to be.

In bondage by our surroundings, captive by our thoughts, we are struggling to push forward and rise above. Determined by our dreams and let down by our own team. Dreaming of freedom and the day when we will meet her. We will be sweating blood by struggling to feel her. We think she’s not far but these chains are heavy and it seems we can’t get along. But where do you start? Do you start with a pen?

With your mind? Or your heart? This art exhibit is about rising through our struggles to freedom.

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Print Project

Zhadae, 14 In My Mind My artwork is a self portrait of me.

Most of all you will notice the prints in my scarf and sweater. I think it expresses how I felt so far in my life. I can’t really do much but think. My artwork is basically showing me thinking. The process was kind of long. I had to draw, using charcoal. And I also had to carve and print using ink. Sometimes when I look at it, it looks as if I’m crying.

That’s kind of what I want people to think when they see it.

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Irmarry, 18 This Drawing is Me

Jessica, 18 There are Two Sides To Every Story

I’m different

My left side has a lot of anger and frustration. I have a lot of scars on my face in the picture. On the other side it shows sadness and fears. On my right side I’m crying. I’m crying because I’m afraid.

from triangles to squares from rectangles to loops Your different from me and I’m different from you.

I like to do many things at once but stay focused on one I want nothing to seem weak everything shown strong all over no mistakes no broken shapes or blank spaces nobody, no bodies, no faces Can you see?

Can you picture me?

Of course you can’t, no matter how much you try no matter how hard you try to. I’m different.

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Royal, 17 Money In The Rain My picture shows that being fly and having money is not everything, there is always sorrow. The message that my picture expresses is that just because someone may have everything there will always be something missing in their life. I hope that someone looking at my artwork will understand that money is not something that really makes a person happy.

Kristian, 14 This artwork is a picture of my shadow. It looks like someone else, not me. The texture should be noticed because usually when you look at a shadow it’s all blank and just black.

People look at a shadow as another side of you and sometimes you wonder if that other side of you had a face what it would look like.

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Barbara, 16 Midnight Star My artwork is a picture of me. It looks like an old grandma of me. The things you should notice about my work are the white spots because that’s where I carved out the linoleum. The message I’m showing in my artwork is me thinking about all of the new stars that are in the sky. To me the stars represent all the souls of people who have passed away going to the sky. When someone looks at this I just hope they can see what I see about all the new stars coming into the sky. They should feel that if one of their family members died they can think that’s their family member’s soul. When they look at my face I want them to know where I’m coming from and to know that I’m serious.

Jerry, 20 Where I’m Heading This artwork shows how I’ve changed over the last year. I would say last year I was a hyper person but now I’m cool and calm and more focused on getting my GED.

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Farah, 21 In The Dark

Stefan, 17 Humble

My picture depicts a person in the shadow of a window. What you will notice the most is the details in the hands.

They’re wrinkly and huge which depicts hard working hands. This print was inspired from an original artwork by Kathe Kollwitz. I drew this picture in charcoal and then carved it out from linoleum and then printed it. It’s beautiful anyway you perceive it. This print relates to me a lot and depicts all the hard work I have done in my life to become the person I am today.

I made this print to show honesty and loyalty which overpowers the weakness of people who are artificial.

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Yesenia, 18

Michael, 18 Evolution The way I have evolved during this year is by going to school and working just doing me. At the beginning I messed up because I started cutting school and for that reason I dropped out. But then I got my game up and I keep doing my thing, which is to get my GED, money and that’s it.

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Quanashia, 15 Zoned Out In Outer Space My artwork is a printed picture of me. It looks like an old time or back-in-the-day picture. All the light parts of the picture are the light parts of my face. My message is that the world sometimes has a lot of things going on crazy behind you. And sometimes you should just pay it no mind. When people look at my artwork I want them to be interested in artwork more, and understand that art isn’t hard when you put your mind to it.

I also want them to realize sometimes in life it’s just good to get your mind off things and be in your own little world.

Aron, 17 The Thinker My picture is about a man thinking.

The trick is I don’t want you to know what he’s thinking about. I just want the person to think what he or she will think about. I first drew the picture from a photo I had taken of myself.

Then I carved it out from linoleum, then I made a print from it. I just hope when someone sees this artwork that it will help them think about their life and how they can make it better.

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Trevor, 17 This piece of art that I created shows depression and frustration in people in time of war, but specifically for Africans.

You can see that the man’s face shows anger. This signifies that African tribes are always prepared and ready for war.

I live by this because throughout my life I have had to go through difficult times and this piece of art shows how I have become prepared for hard times to come. The seal is something I live by because it’s like a law to me and it makes me invulnerable to fear, so that means that I can surpass fear. I was inspired to make this piece of art after looking at artworks designed by past African artists and they sent similar messages to mine. This artwork is supposed to show how Africans are prepared for war and how they see fear as dust because it can be blown away.

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Naquan, 18 Road to Success The portrait I id is a self-portrait. The portrait was drawn on a bad day for me so I look a little mean. My carving is really about me daydreaming about my future success that will be coming true very soon.

Maria, 18 Future This piece of artwork has a meaning.

It is a story of a young girl who in her eyes holds a story full of sadness. But because she’s pregnant she is willing to go far. In my case I’m pregnant and I’m willing to do anything I have to do for my baby.

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Sepia Stories

Jonathon, 17 Choices An artist creates art from his feelings and emotions and from his heart. This piece of art that I created describes the way I felt that day. I felt like I was locked in but there was still a way out, there was still light at the end of the road. At the end of the day it’s just my choice to make the decision.

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Jason, 20 Moody Day This collage is based on a moody day and that birds fly in any weather.

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Ashley, 17 My Theory I am trying to express that when you look out into the world there are a lot of challenges that everyone faces but we overcome them by being strong. If you put your hand out to help someone else this world will become a better place. It only needs time.

Anthony, 18

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Jamie, 17 Curled Tongues and Furled Fists Lead to Nothing but Consequences If you don’t think before you speak curled tongues and furled fists cause only trouble for you. When you don’t think before you speak you find yourself at a crossroads. Either accept your consequences or continue to cause yourself more strain. Then, when you’re in a place that you can’t get out of you will start to think differently and once again that quote comes to mind: Think before you act.

Jerry, 20 Living Free This artwork is about a person who lives freely in this world and doesn’t obey any rules and just watches time progress. That’s where the angels and watch come from, it’s all supposed to be a comparison to my life.

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Mural Project

Adam, Andre, Daquan (17), Dashawn (17), Duval (17), Jaquan, Joel (16), Lashawn, Pablo (18), Rashawn (16), Reggie, Rowlando (17), Timothy (17), Travis (17), Tyre (16) This artwork represents what inmates must go through to rise above the struggle. It helps us to take our minds off the negative things going on in our lives. This artwork represents the struggles and experiences of many people.

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Series Project

Farah Within Beauty My artwork is butterflies made of material and wire. I handmade every single butterfly, and I also drew and printed the picture in the middle of the wings. I want you to notice the wings.

My message is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No matter how you look on the outside, you are always beautiful. You can look at beauty from any angle.

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Zhadae Woman Ova Man/ Man Ova Woman My artwork is of different bodies and heads combined. The message I wanted to express was when you have a male body and a female’s head you never know what decisions she may make differently. What I’m basically trying to say is that when you change one physical thing about a person, their behavior changes also. The process of my artwork was simple. I looked through all types of magazines and cut out faces and bodies only depending on body movement and facial expressions. When someone looks at my artwork I want them to think of putting a head with a different body even though they know it won’t happen.

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Video Project

Ashley (17), Desiree (17), Jade (15), Jamie (17), Na’Quana (16), Nakeda, Raquel (15), Sabrina, Sharrell (17) The Trials and Tribulations of a Locked-Up Kid In this video project we are trying to express what life is like as a few kids act out their way through a lock-up program. During the course of the video you can see the young people overcoming obstacles in their search for freedom.

They must prove that they can get through these obstacles first. The masks represent the kids that are in lock-up, the many different faces and races, and that through it all they can come together.

Throughout the movie you can see that the movement is really disoriented and unstable, like life is for the juveniles that get locked-up.

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About Us Artistic Noise (formerly H.U.M.A.N.—Hear Us Make Artistic Noise) is a small arts and entrepreneurship program that works with girls involved in the juvenile justice system and was founded in Boston, MA in 2001.

Using the Boston program as a model Artistic Noise in New York concentrates on building teens’ strengths, improving their ties to community programs and empowering them to advocate for themselves. In NY, Artistic Noise works with young women and young men, youth involved in the juvenile justice system and community youth in the neighborhoods we serve. Artistic Noise focuses on both the individual artist and the possibilities art collaboration creates to initiate dialogue about issues regarding youth involved in the juvenile justice system and beyond.

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Project Descriptions

Portrait Project

The Mural Project

Dunlevy Milbank Restart GED Program

The Bronx Residential Center

The Next Generation Center

Throughout the year the young artists

Following a process from gesture charcoal

involved in this project studied the history of

drawings to physical carving, students with

mural painting up until the present day. This

a broad range of experience with art use

research culminated in the residents being

printmaking to create powerfully emotional

able to leave the facility for a day to go on a

portraits, most often of themselves. This

fieldtrip to the Museum of Modern Art. While

project was developed for the Dunlevy

there they studied Jose Clemente Orozco’s

Milbank Restart GED program to allow

famous fresco, Dive Bomb and Tanker as

students to learn from German Expressionist

well as other contemporary works. Through

woodblock prints while studying World War

critical discussions and activities the young

II in their GED prep classes. This project

artists chose a theme for their mural keeping

was such a success last year that we have

in mind it’s permanent installation in the

implemented it again this year at two sites.

entryway of the facility. The final design is

Some of the young artists who created

a combination of elements of many of the

prints last year created a new self-portrait

young artists’ individual works. Themes such

this year highlighting how they have grown

as struggle, freedom, the passage of time

in the last year. The young artists studied

and the road to success were explored.

how the events in the world affected the portraits created during the German

The Video Project

Expressionist time period. Like the German

The Brooklyn Residential Center

Expressionist artists, students discussed as a group the issues in society that affect their lives. They then created their own self-portrait prints to further explore these issues.

Series Project The Next Generation Center This project challenged advanced Artistic

The young women involved in this project have created props and a narrative to produce their own art film using stop-motion technology. Through the in-depth study of contemporary artists and ideas, the young women have approached the restriction of creating a film within a secure facility (such as not being able to use their faces) and used these limitations to their creative advantage.

Noise participants to develop their own conceptually driven body of work.

Sepia Stories/ Self-Image Project

Several students in the yearlong Art and

The Brooklyn Residential Center

Entrepreneurship Program at NGC harnessed

City Challenge Center

their studio art skills to execute a self-

The Dunlevy Milbank Restart GED Program

directed project. Students chose a broad variety of themes including the complexities of beauty, the visual manifestation of gender roles, and metaphors for their future goals.

Their work reflects sophistication with art materials and maturity in developing ideas.

This project also encourages personal goal setting, follow-through, and understanding of artists’ professional studio practice.

This project provided specific guidelines for collage work in mixed media, teaching students how to build a visually unified and compelling image. The project allowed for great freedom in thematic exploration.

The young artists developed the themes themselves, choosing to address issues of freedom, struggle, social acceptance, choices, suffering, and forgiveness, among others.

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Bios

Aron, Curator

Quanashia, Curator

Aron is a curator for Artistic Noise. He’s a senior

Quanashia is a freshman student at Wings

at Monroe High School. His favorite medium

Academy. She is 15 years old. She is a curator

is clay. He enjoys playing sports, but mostly

in Artistic Noise. She also participated in the

basketball. He is 17 years old.

Holiday Card Project with Artistic Noise. Her favorite thing about Artistic Noise is that she

Barbara, Curator

gets to be with her friends and make different

Barbara is 16 years old and she is a curator for

artwork.

Artistic Noise. As part of Artistic Noise she likes to draw and express her feelings. She lives in the

Royal, Curator

Bronx and she loves to sing and talk a lot.

Royal is a brilliant artist. He attends school at Dreamyard Preparatory High School. He works

Farah, Curator

as a curator at Artistic Noise. He likes the fact

Farah was born in Brooklyn but currently lives

that he is creating new artwork and trying new

in the Bronx. She is 21 and works at The Next Generation Center as a curator and caterer.

Farah has her GED and is planning to go to

things. His art talents started off by doing graffiti in the South Bronx. He is 18 years old.

college so she can work with teenagers. She

Tess Korobkin, Co-Director, Artistic Noise, NY

loves to express herself in her artwork.

Tess Korobkin works as a Teaching Artist in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. Since she

Frances, Curator

began working at Artists for Humanity in Boston

Frances is 17 years old and is new to Artistic

at 17, Tess has worked at many arts-based youth

Noise. She loves reading and painting. She goes to Monroe High School and lives in the Bronx.

Program Director at Voices UnBroken, a non-

Lauren Adelman , Director, Artistic Noise, NY

young people in community centers, residential

Lauren Adelman is an artist and educator living in Brooklyn. Lauren graduated with a BFA from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts and a MA from NYU. She co-founded the organization Artistic Noise (originally Hear Us Make Artistic Noise—H.U.M.A.N.) in Boston, MA in 2001. In 2008 she started Artistic Noise in NY. Lauren has also worked as an educator at the Museum of Modern Art since 2006. Lauren has taught art in many varied settings such as public schools, juvenile detention centers, and non-profit arts organizations. Lauren first became interested in art as a means of social change while working for Potters for Peace in Nicaragua in 1996. As an artist, Lauren shows her work nationally and has been accepted to competitive artist-in-residence programs. Her work explores enviromental and social issues through printmaking and other media.

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empowerment programs including two years as profit that brings creative arts workshops to treatment programs, re-entry programs, and detention centers. This year she is painting murals with the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Bronx Defenders, teaching art and creative writing with Voices UnBroken and Community Word Project, and working with Artistic Noise’s Art and Entrepreneurship Program at the next Generation Teen Center. Tess is also a resident artist at SWAP (Supporting Women Artist Project), a Brooklyn-based program that provides free studio space to emerging female artists in exchange for mentoring a female high school student. Her artwork is concerned with using art materials in unconventional ways, using found materials as art materials, and telling stories.

Tess received her BA in Studio Art and American Studies from Yale. She has studied mural arts in Mexico, art’s role in democracy in Peru, and Public Art in New York City in the early 1980s.

Program Descriptions

Art and Entrepreneurship Curatorial Program

Mural Project

The Next Generation Center

The Bronx Residential Center

Bronx, NY

Bronx, NY

Artistic Noise partners with The Children’s

The Bronx Residential Center is an Office

Aid Society’s LINC Program and The Next

of Children and Family Services (OCFS)

Generation Teen Center in the Bronx to

secure facility for young men. Artistic Noise

run an intensive studio art and curatorial

partners with The Children’s Aid Society’s

entrepreneurship program. The program begins

LINC program to run an afternoon art program

in September and culminates in June with our

with select participants. Following Boston’s

yearly exhibit of student work at New York

transitional model, participants from The Bronx

University’s Commons Gallery. Along the way,

Residential Center work with Artistic Noise

participants develop their creative skills as

while incarcerated and those interested enter

individual artists and collaborators and their

the program at the Milbank Center or The Next

business skills as stipended artists and curators,

Generation Center upon release.

gaining knowledge of job professionalism, learning about art world careers, and creating

Video Project

their own art exhibit.

The Brooklyn Residential Center Brooklyn, NY

Arts-Based GED Program Dunlevy Milbank Center Restart GED Program Harlem, NY

The Brooklyn Residential Center is an Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) secure facility for young women. Artistic Noise runs

Artistic Noise continues to partner with The

an afternoon art program each Spring with

Children’s Aid Society’s LINC Program and the

select participants. In the Spring of 2008 we

Department of Education to pilot a progressive

implemented the Pillow Project through a grant

arts-based GED program for re-entry and out-

through the Brooklyn Arts Council. This Spring

of-school youth. Artistic Noise developed and

we have developed and are implementing a

is implementing a theme based art education

video project with the young artists through

curriculum geared towards enabling students to

a grant from The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination

pass the GED.

Fund. Following Boston’s transitional model, participants from The Bronx Residential Center

Art/Museum Connection After-School Class

work with Artistic Noise while incarcerated

City Challenge Center

and those interested enter the program at the

Brooklyn, NY

Milbank Center or The Next Generation Center

Artistic Noise has a partnership with The

upon release.

Museum of Modern Art for students at The Children’s Aid Society’s City Challenge Center.

City Challenge is an alternative high school for juvenile offenders in Bedford Stuyvesant.

Through this program participants create their own artwork inspired by various fieldtrips to cultural institutions throughout the city.

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Rising Presented by Artistic Noise & The Children’s Aid Society The Commons Gallery, New York University For more information please visit our website www.artisticnoise.org Graphic designers: Zhadae & Quanashia Teaching artist: Kristin Lum

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