11/23/21 Interviews Meet Artist in Residence Tati Nguyen “Treasure the relationship with your art, and nurture the creative impulse in yourself.” Click to expand media gallery. CMA’s inaugural cohort of Artists in Residence are turning the museum into their individual art studios as they develop The Look Make Show , the first digital commons of child-centered on-demand arts education. Below, meet Tati Nguyen , whose multicultural experiences have helped her develop a variety of arts curricula that span cultures, ages, and mediums. What attracted you to CMA’s new Artist in Residence program? I was attracted to CMA’s residency program both as an educator and artist. As an educator, the residency’s appeal was the innovative approach and openness of possibilities of art education, providing children with an expansive learning tool to engage in new ways; and to look at the world through the lens of creativity. As an artist, I’m excited by the possibilities of experimentation and the intrepid spirit of CMA’s new vision. Plus, I am always inspired by the energy and fresh eyes that children bring to their art practice and approach to self expression (their immediate embrace of an all-in immersive giving of themselves over to art-making). They often take a simple prompt and run off with the ideas to wild places; the rules of engagement in art has no limitations for a child. It was an opportunity too wonderful to pass up. Can you tell us about your art practice and how working with children inspires you? I have always tried to pull inspiration from my own childhood and the power of observations, undiluted by the dictates of external logic — the world where children’s sense of play and experimentation without rules and dictums are freeing. There are no external art metrics to compare against personal vision — for a viewer, perhaps, some messages are more immediate, and others more elusive, but to the child, their art is a world complete in itself: a stand-alone holistic visual universe, which is perfect. I am inspired to draw upon this, and can endlessly revisit again and again in artmaking. Do you have a favorite memory of making art as a child? As a young Vietnamese girl arriving in America, I remember the first time I was able to communicate, not through language but visually with my schoolmates through my drawings. We were copying pictures of penguins (which was fascinating to me as we don’t have penguins in South East Asia). I drew the same animal over and over again to understand this animal, and to communicate and connect with the children that I didn’t share a common language with. What advice would you give to young artists who wish to pursue an art practice? All children are artists — all have a need to express, to share, to communicate; it’s a natural inclination as the children begin their academic careers. Perhaps, some focus may change into learning systems: reading, math, etc., but it’s essential to always nurture curiosity and never stop art practices for themselves. Creativity may be applied in all aspects of our lives, whether it is problem-solving, drawing, writing, dancing, or making music — creativity is magic. Just doing something for yourself, and the world may come to appreciate it or not, but art will enrich life no matter how you engage with it; making it a part of who you are. Treasure the relationship with your art, and nurture the creative impulse in yourself. Why is it important to make art accessible to all children and families? Art is a participatory activity that has the power to engage the entire family; a bonding experience in artmaking can facilitate communication. Art as a topic can beautify and facilitate conversations to share ideas with one another; to trigger a deep dive into life’s journey. Introducing art as a branch of creative child development is to not just let brain activity thrive, but to cultivate balanced creativity in children. Art is what gives children the power to express themselves! If you could choose any artist to create a portrait of yourself, who would it be and why? What an interesting question — for myself, this question gets into a whole new conversation about what a portrayal of an artist would be. Essentially, our artworks are fragments and glimpses of the self; as artists share various forms of their work through their art and narratives … add upon this layer an external gaze to define a portrayal …it is an interesting concept. There are so many answers because it’s difficult to choose just one — a portrait can be expressed in any form — it can be a piece of music, photo, poem, book, painting, or sculpture … in painting form, I would pick Jean Dubuffet . Dubuffet in his approach to portraiture and art practice was to preserve the inner child and innocence of visual expression. It’s the essence of a childlike outlook not weighing down a portrait in formal constructs. NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

1/5/24 Artists in Schools Negative Space and Geometric Shapes Dispatches from CMA Resident Artist Niousha Kiarashi's elementary school class at Sid Miller Academy. Click to expand media gallery. Time for another new technique! First, we looked at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and observed the round buds and triangle petals contrasted against the yellow background. Next, students learned about negative space by collaging geometric shapes on paper, then coloring around those shapes to create texture. By removing the shapes, students were able to see the negative space left behind. Niousha’s work at Sid Miller Academy is supported by the Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free arts education to NYC school communities whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Residents Artists are currently implementing ambitious arts curriculum at each of our partner sites throughout New York City: Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, and Children’s Workshop School in the East Village. Come spring, our residents will showcase their students' work through exhibitions and installations across the city. Learn how you can support the work of our residents here . NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

8/4/23 Reflections Ordinary Objects in Unusual Places Click to expand media gallery. Artists in Open Studio at Pier 57 took a cue from British sculptor Phyllida Barlow to create multimedia artworks inspired by PRANK , currently on view in City Hall Park. PRANK features familiar objects often found at home or in an artist’s studio that are rotated, repeated, and stacked to create awkward, improbable structures. In a similar vein, kids challenged traditional sculptural values by placing an everyday object, such as a chair or bed, in an irregular place, like the ocean or outer space. Students selected subjects at random, then created a scene based on their selections. This resulted in some delightfully odd pairings, such as an intricately sculpted dining room (complete with a bouquet of flowers!) set within a dinosaur’s lair. NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

6/10/23 Kids Art Celebrate Pride With 4 Rainbows From CMA's Permanent Collection of Children's Art Click to expand media gallery. Stella Untitled Age 11 Kirin Gill Life Age 7 American Embassy School New Delhi, India Layla Mandell Rainbow Blossom Age 8 NADA New York Collection New York, NY, USA Farunka Sinanovic Untitled Age 11 NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

2/28/24 Artists in Schools Releasing Our Burdens Through Art Dispatches from CMA Resident Artist Maria D. Rapicavoli's after school class at Hudson Guild. Click to expand media gallery. Using the metaphor of “throwing out of the window,” students were invited to consider something they wish they could eliminate from their lives. It could be a tangible item, like an object, or an intangible one, like a feeling or an emotion. Students anonymously wrote down their answers on a piece of paper, folded it, and placed it in a basket. Next, they randomly selected a paper from the basket and created an artwork based on its content. The goal of the game was to understand that sometimes we need others to help us let go of our burdens. Art can serve as a powerful tool for expressing and releasing the things that trouble us. Students loved this project! The diversity of responses was astonishing. One student wrote down that she wanted to get rid of her Barbie Dreamhouse. Other students wrote about discarding “bad negativity” or “my anger and sadness.” As usual, students impressed us with their creativity. One student picked a paper that said “my shower” and ingeniously crafted a three-dimensional representation of a shower using cardboard, wood, and metal wire. Another student visually captured complex emotions through color by representing anger with red and sadness with blue. Maria's work at Hudson Guild is supported by the Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free arts education to NYC school communities whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Residents Artists are currently implementing ambitious arts curriculum at each of our partner sites throughout New York City: Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, and Children’s Workshop School in the East Village. Come spring, our residents will showcase their students' work through exhibitions and installations across the city. Learn how you can support the work of our residents here . NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

1/24/24 Artists in Schools Viewing Henry Taylor at the Whitney Museum CMA Resident Artist Maria D. Rapicavoli visited the Whitney Museum with her after school students from Hudson Guild. Click to expand media gallery. Our after school students from Hudson Guild returned to the Whitney Museum of American Art this week for a behind-the-scenes tour of Henry Taylor: B-Side . This was their second ever visit to an art museum, following last week’s visit to the Ruth Asawa exhibition! We are extremely grateful to volunteer docent Gay Young , who connected with our students on a personal level and offered engaging stories about the people depicted in Taylor’s paintings. Of course, it wouldn't be art class without drawing time. Students can’t wait to make a return trip soon. Thank you to our institutional partners and to CMA Resident Artist Maria D. Rapicavoli for making these field trips happen! Maria's work at Hudson Guild is supported by the Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free arts education to NYC school communities whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Residents Artists are currently implementing ambitious arts curriculum at each of our partner sites throughout New York City: Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, and Children’s Workshop School in the East Village. Come spring, our residents will showcase their students' work through exhibitions and installations across the city. Learn how you can support the work of our residents here . NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

9/28/23 News CMA Joins Bloomberg Connects, the Free Arts & Culture App Children's Museum of the Arts, now in the palm of your hand. Click to expand media gallery. We couldn’t be more excited to join the legion of world class cultural organizations on Bloomberg Connects , the free arts and culture app. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at our recent exhibition sampling , hear the child artists of The Lemonade Stand describe their artworks, read profiles of our Artists in Residence , and so much more – and more to come. Explore CMA anytime, anywhere. Download for iPhone and Android NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

5/8/23 Reflections When Life Gives Us Lemons, We Make Art Click to expand media gallery. We harnessed the entrepreneurial spirit of that summertime staple and built our own functioning lemonade stand on the roof of NADA New York art fair! Artists (from emerging to very emerging) created artwork, sold out our booth, and mixed lemonade — all to benefit other children who have lost access to arts education. The New Yorker even stopped by to hear from the young artists who were the first contributors to CMA's Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free art education to schools whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Join these young artists by making a donation today. NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

3/1/24 Artists in Schools Noormah's Reflections: February CMA Resident Artist Noormah Jamal on her February projects at Children's Workshop School. Click to expand media gallery. This month, we finished our animal cloud forms then jumped into observational portrait and gestural figure drawing! I probably say this every time, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when students not only do well, but respond to the assignment in a way that they feel it was made for them. Observational drawing often intimidates my students. However, because these lessons were quick sketches, they slowly eased up and gained confidence. Some students required extra assistance, but most were pretty independent after the initial demo and did exceptionally well. I also really enjoyed seeing the students interacting with each other, responding to each other's work and offering encouraging comments like "You're really good at this," 'You've gotten so much better," "I don't think that looks right, the back has more of a bend to it," and my favorite comment: "You guys are gonna weep when you see mine." Noormah’s work at Children’s Workshop School is supported by the Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free arts education to NYC school communities whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Residents Artists are currently implementing ambitious arts curriculum at each of our partner sites throughout New York City: Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, and Children’s Workshop School in the East Village. Come spring, our residents will showcase their students' work through exhibitions and installations across the city. Learn how you can support the work of our residents here . NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

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