The Youth Mural Arts program is a grassroots community engaged arts campaign developed after seeing a need for more publicly accessible art in Peekskill, NY. Project update posted December 7, 2011…
All of this started with an idea I had last year. I wondered what would happen if professional artists and youth groups got together to make large murals for a community engaged art exhibition, a tapestry of fine art, that would cover an ugly parking garage in Peekskill, NY. You can see the video of my talking head when all of this was just a concept here: http://kellibickman.net/youth-mural-arts/donate/
The idea expanded. Meetings were had, presentations were given, letters were sent out, artists portfolios were reviewed, sponsorship requests were made, more conversations were had, coffee was drunk in abundant quantities and wheels spiraled into motion for a wonderful collaboration between myself, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, many fantastic professional artists, youth centers and other delightful folks who want to make the world a better place by sharing time/ideas and in the process make some great art.
The unveiling ceremony was last Sunday…Margaret Steele wrote a wonderful article along with photos here in PATCH: http://peekskill.patch.com/articles/peekskill-turns-parking-into-works-of-art
Seven of the 6′ x 26′ banners are up…it is a really dynamic outdoor exhibition. I’ve been sent photos from many of the artists as their individual projects unfolded and will post a gallery of images sometime soon (as well as close up views of each mural, they deserve closer examination). A video of the process is also underway by Heather Brown’s group at the High School.
Lana Yu has posted a gallery of her working with youth here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanayu/sets/72157628098391324/
This has been a true labor of love from everyone who has participated and for that I am absolutely grateful. Many new alliances have been formed and many ideas shared, our youth have been inspired to think about the world in different ways (over 400 youth have participated) and a conversation has been started about the value of public art in (and around) Peekskill.
Many thanks to Livia Straus & Jo-Ann Brody at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. www.hvcca.org – they do wonderful things to bring great art to the world and I have learned a great deal from them both.
Here are photos of the banners as they are installed on the James Street parking garage, downtown, Peekskill, Ny. click on images to enlarge:
Jeannie Egel (Croton-C0rtlandt Center for the Arts) & Tova Snyder (Rye Art Center)
The parking garage view from corner…the banners are being re-evaluated for placement and hanging…some would like to see them hanging lower so they are more easily viewed, and some would like them to be hung higher so they can be viewed from a distance.
Tova Snyder – Rye Arts Center
Lana Yu’s mural
Peekskill Youth Bureau mural (my class)
As this is a work in progress, I suspect there will be some changes. When the next banners are installed, another ceremony will be held to honor the individuals who participated to the success of this project.
Until later is now, kelli
Apparently bricks have been falling off the garage we were planning on installing the murals…so things have changed a bit. The project has been moved to the James Street Parking garage, across from C-Town. Three of the murals have been installed:
GRAND UNVEILING CELEBRATION:
DECEMBER 4, 2011
2:00-2:45 PM AT THE JAMES STREET GARAGE!
PUBLIC IS WELCOME.
Here are two photos the banners as digital mock ups- what it will look like on the building:
Top – Jessica Fuentes, Greenpoint Academy; Jo-Ann Brody, Peekskill Day Camp
Bottom row – Andrew Kaminsky, Salvation Army; Kelli Bickman, Peekskill Youth Bureau
this one is reversed: Top, Salvation Army kids, bottom, special needs group from Greenpoint
CELEBRATION ON THE HORIZON!
Sunday, October 30, 12-4pm – visit http://www.hvcca.org/ for more info.
Celebration & Halloween Parade Masks, Crafts & Treats!
Free and Open to all ages!
Rain date: Sunday Nov. 6
Update: July 13, 2011
So much is happening in the world of ‘The Banner Project” it is time for a new post.
I just spoke to a writer for the NY Times (Susan Hodera www.susanhodara.com) who is going interview me, the HVCCA and the some of the youth to do a story for the Sunday Regional Section of the New York Times. Very excited about this.
The program has grown and changed over the last few months. One artist couldn’t join us, another jumped on board. Many artists are in full swing with their youth groups working hard to make the art for the installation.
And, Chaka Watch at the Salvation Army in Peekskill has asked me to write a program to bring a group of youth to Zimbabwe in 2012. Something very nice about the sound of “Youth Mural Arts – International”.
Here is what we are up to (artist list revised August 17, 2011:
Andrew Kaminski (yorktown heights) - started teaching 5 days a week at the Salvation Army in Peekskill, they LOVE him there.
Tova Snyder (Rye)- will be working with a youth group at the Rye Art Center to paint a full scale mural.
Lana Yu - (Peekskill) has been concepting for her Jenny Holzer inspired piece and is working at the Jan Peek House Homeless shelter in Peekskill.
Jeanne Egel (Putnam Valley) – will be working with selected students in the Croton-Cortlandt area to create a banner.
Jo-Anne Brody -(Peekskill) is currently working with a group of kids at a summer camp. Her banner is influenced by the work of Jonathan Borofsky.
Jessica Fuentes – (White Plains) has been working with special needs students. Their banner is inspired by Keith Haring.
Heather Brown – (Peekskill) will work with the Peekskill High School this fall to create art for the Banner Project.
Kelli Bickman – (Peekskill) is once again working with the youth at the Peekskill Youth Bureau to make a banner in style of Tim Rollins piece titled “X-Men 1986″…photos of our work in progress can be found here.
The opening of the exhibit at HVCCA is September 18, 2011. We hope to have all of the banners installed on the parking garage by the end of October. The banners will remain in place for one year at which time they will be re-located to their original youth group for permanent public display.
And, we are still working hard on fund raising. If you wish to sponsor this project, please click the link to your right to help us make great banners, inspire young minds, and build community thru art.
Best to all,
Kelli Bickman
Director, Youth Mural Arts
This project is bringing together 10 artists and over 300 youth to create another large scale community engaged art installation in the Arts District of Peekskill, NY. This project is inspired by the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art’s fall exhibition titled “circa 1986″.
More info can be found here. and a wonderful article in PATCH here.
visit the HVCCA website for more on the Banner Project and their beautiful exhibition space.
Gratitude to our many sponsors!
Peekskill Educational Foundation
Golden Acrylics, Wells Fargo, Jeffrey Kaplan, John Hallinan, Richard Finn, Innovative Arts, Christina Volz, Patricia Braja, Keith & March French, Patricia Tisza, Kathleen Chilcott, Christine Lifgren, Carla Rae Johnson, Nellie’s Cafe, Suzanne Langley, Pam Keul, Bill & Carol Assmann, Rita Kirsch Dungey, Stop & Shop, Bed Bath & Beyond, Cassandra Bickman, Lynn Ristau, Bongarbiz.com, Kali Bogosian, Andreas Riche, The Peekskill Police Department
While grants are being written to find further support, a new platform for receiving public sponsorship has been created…go here to donate and help us make great art in Peekskill. Pre-order a set of fine art postcards of the finished art for only $25 or get your name/logo on the big sponsor banner for $500 and up. Your money goes to support artists, stimulate the economy and educate our youth.
Directed by Kelli Bickman at the Peekskill Youth Bureau
Valerie Swan, Executive Director of Youth Bureau
The 2010 ‘Painters for Peace’ Youth Mural Arts project saw more than 30 students designing and creating an 8′ x 22′ mural that now graces the side of the City of Peekskill Youth Bureau building. Our class met every Thursday for 2 hours with summer intensive work/paint sessions. We covered the history of murals (condensed version), brainstorming and concept for design, different techniques for application including the grid system, projection and the ‘cartoon’ method of transfer, design basics and painting techniques. The students started working in April, 2010 on this project and the final unveiling celebration and dedication was held on December 13, 2010.
The program is modeled (on a smaller scale) after the Philadelphia Mural Project. My hope for the future is to further develop the program so students are provided with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts.
The City of Peekskill Youth Bureau programs are designed to assist youth in becoming competent leaders of the 21st century. This gives youth opportunity to apply their positive energy to identify and achieve their goals. We believe this enables them to believe in themselves, adults and their community.
This program has been funded with generous grants from: Arts Alive from ArtsWestchester with funding from NYSCA, the Peekskill BID, the Peekskill Rotary, the Peekskill Youth Bureau, the City of Peekskill, Sherwin Williams, N. Dains & Sons, Jeff Kaplan, Lawrence Bickman
“The City of Peekskill is very proud of the first mural that was created by the Youth Bureau teens under the direction of Kelli Bickman. The project is an inspiration to all adults to reach out to our youth. Our youth are extremely talented. The beautiful mural that hangs on the exterior of the Cortlandt Hook and Ladder/Youth Bureau building is a testament to the power of this adult-teen collaboration. I hope to see more murals soon.”
Mayor Mary F. Foster
Follow Me