Emergency Exhibition:
New Training for Future Artists
and Art Lovers
Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers brings together artwork by students aged Pre-K to 5th grade from Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Emergency Arts Education Fund partner organizations across New York City: 1) Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Manhattan; 2) P396K Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; and 3) Children’s Workshop School in East Village, Manhattan.
Although these three organizations are separated by geography, they have one thing in common — they have all lost arts funding as a result of citywide budget cuts. The works in this exhibition demonstrate the breadth of the experimental arts curriculum crafted and implemented by each of CMA’s Artists in Residence: Maria D. Rapicavoli at Hudson Guild; Niousha Kiarashi at P396K Sid Miller Academy, and Noormah Jamal at Children’s Workshop School. These three approaches vary in style, but are united in their goal to provide deeply ambitious free arts education to students who need it most.
The exhibition borrows its title from Mark Rothko’s 1934 essay New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers, which encourages artists to approach their craft from the perspective of a child. For Rothko, the function of the instructor is to inspire confidence rather than impose overbearing guidelines. In this spirit, Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers affirms the diversity of student learning profiles through a year of inclusive art instruction and joyful co-creation.
Hudson Guild
Chelsea, Manhattan
Materials: colored construction paper
"Inspired by street artists Alber, Phillip Sauders, and Paola Tacchini’s embroidery, students learned how to create value with color combinations. Willow made her self-portrait by cutting and combining small pieces of colored construction paper."
Materials: acrylic paint
"Focusing on Picasso's Blue Period, students explored monochromatic colors and how to express their feelings through art. I encouraged the kids to think of a time when they were sad and transfer those emotions into their painting. Because Picasso often used the color blue to express sadness, Alyssa felt inspired to make this terrific self-portrait."
Materials: paper, crayons, found flat objects, scissors, glue
"Students were introduced to Max Ernst and the art of frottage. They experimented with the frottage technique, which consisted of placing a sheet of paper on top of a flat object and gently rubbing the paper with a pencil or crayon to pick up the texture of the object. Students were fascinated by the surrealist nature of Ernst's work because they found it absurd and new. Dmari found great inspiration in Ernst's drawing 'The Fugitive' and depicted a fictional animal that was a mix of a wolf, a porcupine, and an eagle."
Materials: oil pastels
"During this lesson, students were introduced to the art of fellow New Yorker Jean-Michel Basquiat. We discussed how art allows us to express our personal feelings and ideas and to 'say out loud' things we don't like or want to change. For this assignment, students took a cue from graffiti and street art to draw their names or initials using oil pastels. Kids loved working with oil pastels because they are softer than crayons, can be blended, layered, and mixed, and are very bright."
Materials: mosaic tiles, glue, paper, cardboard, grout
"This lesson introduced students to the mosaic technique and how it has been employed throughout art history. In the initial phase, they drew inspiration from the paintings of Alma Thomas and Sam Gilliam's 'From a Model to a Rainbow' mosaic in Washington, DC, as well as ancient Roman mosaics in my hometown of Catania, Sicily. During the first part of the assignment, students drew geometric shapes and figures on white paper. Afterwards, I provided them with small colored tiles and glue and asked them to fill in their drawing using the tiles. The final step of the project consisted in adding grouting.
This step-by-step process demanded both time and patience, but students were extremely satisfied with making a work that is more permanent and durable than a drawing. They used grout to fill in the gaps between the small tiles, which gave them a chance to experiment with new materials, work on their composition skills, and improve their attention to detail."
Project: Paper Mache
Materials: magazine paper, glue, water, metal, wood
"Students were introduced to the ancient technique of paper mache. With the help of aluminum foil, they first created a rough shape for their project. Next, students used metal wire, wood, tape, and glue to build a defined structure for the wet paper to adhere to. The following day, they covered their structures with layers of newspaper strips dipped in a paste made of glue and water. They smoothed down the strips by overlapping them to ensure adequate coverage and structural strength. Once dry, students used acrylic paint to cover their structures and acrylic markers for fine detail.
Valentine ambitiously depicted a face with a crown using the paper mache technique. He remembered Basquiat’s signature crown from a lesson back in December and wanted to recreate it."
Materials: cardboard, metal, glue, metallic paper, colored foam
"‘Drawing in the air’ was the title of my class inspired by Alexander Calder. After looking at Calder's abstract mobile sculptures, students experimented with balance, equilibrium, and lightness to create a mobile sculpture that moves with the wind. By cutting metallic paper, cardboard, and metal wire, they created their own works of kinetic art."
Materials: cardboard, acrylic paint, glue, metallic paint, various ready made materials
"Following the class trip to Pipilotti Rist’s exhibition at Hauser and Wirth Gallery, students set out to create their own works inspired by the Swiss artist. During the gallery visit, students were captivated by the vibrant array of materials and colorful, diverse media. In response, students incorporated glitter and shiny paper into their artworks to capture the viewer’s eye. Avery, in particular, crafted impressive and strikingly realistic fruit stands."
Materials: air dry clay, acrylic paint
"Students created air-dry clay pottery using hand-building techniques. They even kneaded their own clay using rolling pins! They started out by creating basic clay forms like pinch pots and slab-built vessels, then experimented with different techniques to add textures and patterns to their form. Afterwards, they learned how to join clay pieces securely using water as a slip. Kairi created a volcano and named it 'Mount Kairi' after himself. He then painted his sculpture using colorful acrylics."
Materials: fabric, glue, acrylic markers
"This lesson was inspired by Faith Ringgold's captivating 'Street Story' quilt. I asked students to recreate the facades of their own buildings as viewed from the street. I gave them different colored pieces of fabric, along with glue and scissors, and encouraged them to unleash their creativity to the fullest extent."
Materials: charcoal, blending stump
"This is an example of a speed self-portrait with charcoal. Students explored tri-dimensionality by depicting human faces with curves and straight lines using charcoal and blending stumps."
Materials: cardboard, acrylic paint, glue, metallic paint, various ready made materials
Materials: acrylic paint
Materials: magazine paper, glue, water, metal, wood
Materials: air dry clay, acrylic paint
Materials: charcoal, pencils, graphite
Materials: cardboard, acrylic paint, glue, metallic paint, various ready made materials
Materials: pencil
Materials: cardboard, metal
Materials: pastels, crayons, acrylic markers, googly eyes
Materials: pencil, acrylic paint
Materials: colored construction paper, glue
Materials: fabric, glue, magazine paper
Materials: oil pastels
Materials: old newspapers, magazines, glue
Children's Workshop School
East Village, Manhattan
Materials: tempera paint, q-tips, sponges
"Tints and shades are very important when learning color theory. Soren's main color selection was red, and he had the last five minutes of the assignment to select which section would have the contrast / highlighted color. I feel his composition and color selections are very clever."
Materials: oil pastels
"This was their first introduction to oil pastels. Students took inspiration from Picasso's cubist portraits to make one of their own. Odin did a brilliant job of experimenting with form in his portrait. He was focused on corners and angles."
Materials: oil pastels
"Angel's portrait has great likeness to his own appearance. He does an excellent job of blending and using the oil pastels. He loves the opaque nature of pastels vs. crayons, a medium that he's very used to using."
Materials: watercolors
"This assignment was the students' first introduction to watercolor and wet on wet technique. Lucy exhibited great control over the medium and took inspiration from old stained glass paintings while making her fall leaves."
Materials: styrofoam ball, popsicle stick, glue, foam sheets, staple pins, markers
"Alina's work for this project inspired half her classmates! Her ability to make the most of the materials provided in astounding. She was very much aware of every angle when making a 3D work."
Materials: tempera paint, q-tips, sponges
"Siqima is a true artist. He has the innate ability to pick up any new medium and excels at it instantly. He also has a very observant eye. He is always aware of shadows and highlights and excels at the use of color."
Project: Fruit Pointillism
Materials: tempera paint, q-tips, sponges
"This work shows the level of precision and patience of the young artist — a single strawberry, incredibly well composed, with a blue contrast border around it. Vivian was very consistent with her skill and technique."
Project: Fruit Pointillism
Materials: tempera paint, q-tips, sponges
"Linus used q-tips and sponges to blend and achieve the final outcome. Composition for incredibly important for him. 'Fruit bowls are pretty big in old paintings,' he said."
Project: Collage
Materials: collage
"Jeicob's approach and focus was centered on narrative building, which he achieved very well. Two scenes play out within the same frame, which he was very pleased with."
Project: Collage
Materials: collage
"For the collage assignment, students look at the works of Hannah Hoch and Pakistani artist Rashid Rana. Bianca was one of the few students who employed collage in a different way by making her own self portrait."
Materials: graphite, colored pencils and acrylic on paper
Materials: charcoal on paper
Materials: colored pencils
Materials: watercolor on watercolor paper
Materials: pencil and black crayon
Materials: colored pencils on paper
Materials: graphite and black crayon on paper
Materials: oil pastels on paper
Materials: paper / magazine cut outs and glue on paper
Materials: black, white, and blue tempera paint on watercolor paper
Materials: watercolor and oil pastel on watercolor paper
Materials: crayons on paper
Materials: graphite and watercolor on watercolor paper
Materials: graphite and black crayon
Materials: buttons, glass, foam paper, feather on cardstock mask
P396K Sid Miller Academy
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Materials: eye dropper, paint, water, straw on cardboard
"After learning the fundamentals of artmaking, students learned alternative painting methods, such as using eye droppers and blowing paint through a straw."
Materials: paint, paintbrush, cardboard, marker
"Students were given three different cardboard squares and asked to paint the same object at different scales. This assignment allowed them to understand space and discover size and scale."