Hannah Traore Gallery announces “Our Neighborhood: Seen Through The Eyes of The Anna Silver School, The Benjamin Altman School and The Island School,” on view through April 29, 2023. The exhibition, a presentation of artwork from local students, is a collaboration between the gallery and three public schools in the surrounding Lower East Side community. These schools are leaders in their remarkable commitment to ensure art education is available to all of their students; this presentation is a celebration of their dedication to the children of our community who make extraordinary art when given time and space to engage their imagination.
Each school was invited to prompt their students to make art about their neighborhood, encouraging kids to see their community as a place where they can express themselves, be involved, and expand their exposure to the arts. Nurturing their innate creativity, the exhibition offers an intimate mosaic of work from students ranging from pre-K to the fifth grade. For Evelyn Brandt Chambers, a 4th-grader at PS 20, making art is inextricable from her sense of belonging, “Art is a universal language that everyone speaks. All people can create. Art includes everyone. It is good for the community when everyone is included.” Photographs of friends framed with multi-colored marker borders, swirling crayon illustrations with handwritten affirmations, collages of paper cut-outs arranged into cityscapes, these works embody the invention and freedom that kids cultivate when they are able to participate in arts programming—an opportunity teachers fight to preserve in a country where budget cuts stifle public schools’ art funding.
All proceeds from sales will be matched by the gallery and returned to each school as a charitable donation to ensure continued art access for New York City students. The gallery is dedicated to preserving and strengthening creative initiatives in our local community, activating our space to provide lasting resources for arts education in the Lower East Side. While this initiative is rooted in our neighborhood, students feel inspired to continue to pursue creative outlets as they grow up and engage with new environments; as Aaron Tong, a 4th-grader at PS 20, shares: “Art allows [us] to tell the truth about important ideas. This helps the community to think better about how we take care of each other and the world.” This exhibition marks the beginning of an ongoing relationship between The Anna Silver School, The Benjamin Altman School, The Island School and Hannah Traore Gallery, striving to develop meaningful connections in their neighborhood.
Hannah Traore Gallery | 150 Orchard Street New York
On View Through April 29, 2023
