Art Start News

This week’s blog is an excerpt from the weekly workshop journal of Nicole Dale, Music Director for ART START. She had a really beautiful experience and I am moved to share it with all of you. Names have been changed out of respect for the students.

Kenari has been at the shelter for quite a while now - about a year or so. He has 2 brothers and they all come to the ART START workshops frequently. It’s always been hard for the brothers to be together in the same room. Often their behavior is too disruptive when together, so we have to split them up into different rooms, or ask one of them to not participate for that evening only. We always hated doing this, and tried often to find ways to keep all of them involved. Besides issues with his brothers, Kenari was very difficult in general, especially around the summertime. There were a lot of boys attending the workshop, and their unique chemistry (or lack thereof) led to a lot of violent outbursts. For the safety of all the children in the workshop, we had to ask some of the boys not to attend the workshops anymore. Kenari was one of these boys. It was heartbreaking to have to tell him he could not attend. He LOVED the drum circles and really got into it. You could tell it was a release for him to be allowed to physically hit something that made such a satisfyingly loud noise. But in addition to this, he also has a talent for making beats and was able to focus on it for a long time, unlike other activities where he could never gain focus. Kenari was upset about being kicked out of the drum circle and returned every week to ask me if he could join up. Again and again, I had to tell him no.

A couple of months passed and the dynamic of group started to change. Several children had left the shelter and new ones had arrived. The collective behavior of the group was calmer and the workshops were able to flourish again, safely. We hadn’t seen Kenari for a while when he started to show up again, asking if he could join in. I told him that I was ready to give him another chance, but only one. He could never display any violent behavior again. He said he understood and we let him participate on a trial basis.

Somehow things had changed for him. He still didn’t necessarily get along with his brothers and understandably so when you have to spend so much time together in a small living quarters. But now, Kenari was very focused on the drums and listened to all the instructions we gave him. He didn’t act out toward the other children; instead he offered to help them learn the beats that we were playing. He realized he had a real talent for it that he could share! He was so sweet and nurturing with these children. We didn’t have to worry about him participating anymore, in fact we looked forward to seeing him each week.

Just last week, we had a new ART START volunteer join the workshop and we put him in charge of drumming. He gave Kenari a leadership role in the drum circle, allowing him to create the beats that the group played, and letting him lead the group jam session. It was amazing to see Kenari embrace this role. He was so happy and satisfied with his playing. He has really grown in the time we’ve worked with him, and although I don’t know what other experiences are happening in his life, I know that he has at least one place where he can shine and feel satisfied in his abilities.

At the point when things were so out of control with Kenari, I never thought they would end this way, but that is one of the most beautiful things about working with ART START children. They never cease to surprise me and remind me that they are capable of learning absolutely anything. They just need to be given chances to grow in a nurturing way.

We know we’re amazing, but the world needs to know as well. That’s why we started production this week on a very exciting, highly artistic, and extremely dope audio-visual representation of the Art Start family. From video portraits of teaching artists and kids to workshop footage, original music and lyrical prose, Art Start will soon inspire the world with our work more than ever before — all in under 5 minutes!

All of this is being made possible by the unbelievably generous support of David Johnson, highly-acclaimed photographer and director, based in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

David Johnson (takes pictures)

David has shot Art Start portraits for the past year, including the ones on this page, and he’s also worked with our One Mic program to begin developing music videos for our teen artists. Check out some of the raw footage from Krhazey 80’s video “NY”, shot this past January to get a feel for David’s style and talent.

Krhazey 80 footage

Browse his website, check out his work, and get excited and ready for Art Start’s photographic and video campaign, featuring, and shot by, our family.

Good Morning, Familia!

I am so excited to blog about the new partnership between ART START and The Ali Forney Center that starts up this March to provide musical theater workshops for LGBT homeless teens. Stars will be born - there is no doubt about it.

The Ali Forney Center is a remarkable organization, headquartered in Chelsea, serving Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual youth who have been rejected from their families and communities because of their sexual/gender identity.  Most of these courageous youth are forced to live on the streets, surviving by any means necessary.  Even regular city shelters, where they are many times taken advantage of and abused, are not safe.   The Ali Forney Center provides free social services & meals at their drop in day center and they provide an emergency shelter, where this March ART START will begin to provide free weekly workshops.

Stay tuned for some very inspiring updates!

The Ali Forney Center

As a professional working in graphic design for over five years, Alexandra Anderson became eager to find a way to bring the creative minds of career artists together to benefit a cause. Graphic design is often an industry-driven field, but it also has the capacity to drive positive change in our communities.

Art Start's One Mic artist, Miky

Let me tell you about Miky’s grind, and why we love him.  Miky was an Art Start student in the One Mic recording workshop in the Spring of 2009.  At first we thought he was a shy kid, but when he wrote the song “H.O.P.E.” for the spring album, we realized that he was neither shy nor a kid.  He is a young man who chooses his powerfully perceptive words extremely carefully.

Miky always stood out to us because despite the challenges in his life, he was always early for everything and never, ever missed a workshop.  Art Start founder Scott Rosenberg always says, “Showing up is 90%.”  Miky gets that intuitively.  Whatever we were offering, he was taking it.  When teenagers are grappling with stress, survival, and destructive environments this level of maturity and confidence is often thwarted by the drama of the day-to-day.  It’s only natural.  But Miky always keeps his passion a priority.  He used the workshops and the recording booth as a platform to cultivate his voice and stay focused on the positive.

This past summer, the One Mic workshop focused solely on writing skills and no recording; a pretty intense assignment for most young people who tend to resist writing exercises like the plague.  This is even more true for Miky, a master freestyler.  His innate talent lies in flowing off the dome (making up his lyrics as he goes along, without pen and pad.)  Sitting down around a table with no recording booth, paper and pencil in hand, writing lyrics for two months straight should have kept him home on the PS2 on One Mic nights.  But Miky, always on the grind, doesn’t say no to any opportunities to improve.  He came, he wrote, he got writers block, he wrote some more, he got some more writers block, he worked it out, he kept on coming.  Even as a freestyle king, he knew improving his writing would make him a more well-rounded artist.

He’s 18. I want to see him at 30, running things.

He’s off to a good “running things” start.  This fall, when an internship position opened up for the One Mic recording workshop, Miky stepped up immediately.  He’s now committing 6-8 hours per week, volunteering to make the fall ‘09 One Mic workshop a success for its current participants while still writing and recording his own music in the studio.  He’ll lead the weekly cyphers, provide feedback to the students, and he’s still always early and stays late for workshops - never missing an opportunity.

I have a lot to learn from Miky’s grind.  He doesn’t need to be loud and flashy about his “skillz,” and he never talks about all that he does for the Art Start family, not only in workshops but moving boxes and performing at Art Start fundraisers.

He knows his passion. He just acts. He just does.

I declare today national Grind Like Miky Day on the Art Start calendar.  I am going to honor his grind by committing myself to something I love, even the tedious parts, with less words and lots more action.

H.O.P.E. Lyrics

By Miky

It’s my turn now and I’ll never ever go
I scream it out loud like I’m stuck in the hole
I’m the gun and my rhymes are the clips
So I lock and load
The world knows that I’m the bomb
cause I’m ready to explode
my story won’t be untold
so here we go and watch it all unfold
My life is geeting raw like a dead fish
Money driving me crazy like a drunken reckless
cause me, my friends, my fam we all stressed
so I guess I gotta make more, no less
but first we got to STRUGGLE
life is up and down like a person that juggles
I’m tired of this game cause I’m always playing trouble
tryin to make moves till I pop like the bubble
straight to the top like an outer space shuttle

H.O.P.E.
you see
it’s just you and me
cause we both lookin for that

H.O.P.E.

Right now there’s a money problem people losing jobs
they see the money in their hand so they start to rob
cause they don’t want to end up homeless
so they all start to think that they’re hopeless
so their main focus is to calm down and start hopin
but the money keeps on provokin
them to get a blade and start pokin
but instead of a blade is a cup they’re holdin
and even with all this drama
in their cup is probably more change then Obama
so I guess the future gon be bright
like a T.V.
and when you see him on sight
you gon think he’s colored but he’s really black and white
it’s a revolution, a movement, so we all gotta fight

H.O.P.E.
you see
it’s just you and me
cause we both lookin for that

H.O.P.E.

A lot of people hopin, keep that in your mind
cause it can get hurt
I was wasting father time
and I was hurting mother earth
so I crossed the line
and I went out bloody like I did on my birth
so this is a warnin
cause I’m a hot spot like global warmin
see, humans discover stuff by explorin
but even humans couldn’t stop the earth from explodin
so I guess we are holdin
responsible for the planet cause we all in
but we keep knockin it down like pins when we’re bowlin
and when the planet needs fixin
it’s God that we’re callin

H.O.P.E.
you see
it’s just you and me
cause we both lookin for that

H.O.P.E.

People die and people start cryin G
and at birth I started dying G
so you already know I ain’t lyin G
I sell the truth and you should start buyin G
It’s too dark I’m just tryin to bring the light
but when the cops see me on sight
they think I’m a criminal and they want me to do life
I’m a martian
they don’t respect my human rights

H.O.P.E.
you see
it’s just you and me
cause we both lookin for that

H.O.P.E.

The Art Start Family never ceases to inspire and move me to be a better person.  This month, one of our volunteer artists is blowing my mind. I hope you’ll join me on October 1st when he performs a live show in Gramercy Park, featuring the Art Start teens, all to benefit Art Start.

Mark Nadler is a Broadway performer, TV actor, traveling one man show, and one of Art Start’s most passionate volunteers. His spirit is infectious and his shows are on fire. This show, in particular, will feature the Art Start teens and will be followed by a champagne reception and a really great silent auction. The tickets are $50 a piece and the event goes down at the National Arts Club, a gorgeous landmark building in Gramercy Park, at 8pm.  Mark’s show will benefit Art Start 100%. He’s donating every dime of proceeds to the organization.   I am MOVED.

But check out his weekly gig…

Every Tuesday night at LIFE Shelter, Art Start leads a music workshop where the children learn the basic piano, guitar and drum parts to their favorite songs off the radio and then they come together at the end of the night to jam out as a band.  It’s one of our most popular workshops.  I am not a musician myself, so I didn’t really get it until I started going to the workshop. Playing in a real, live band is one of the most amazing feelings ever! Even if it’s the first time you’ve ever picked up an instrument, you can only play four bars, and you’re jamming over a CD, playing as a band is a true high.

Mark shows up every week with time, patience and overwhelming passion for teaching the children at LIFE shelter the piano part to their favorite songs, and other lessons on the keys.  The children love him and he truly loves the children. He consistently gives them 1000% and raises the bar for them, and Art Start, every single week.

Please join me on October 1st to be wildly entertained by Mark’s highly acclaimed show, and to support Art Start’s programs, including Mark’s music workshop, at a time when every single dollar truly matters to making masterpieces with our amazing, courageous kids.  Since this show is also open to the National Arts Club members who can reserve seats for free, we are trying to sell out the show FAST in order to make sure as many seats as possible support our mission!  Please click below to purchase your ticket as soon as you can! If you can’t attend, consider sponsoring a volunteer artist or Art Start teen to attend.  I can’t wait to see you there and celebrate this beautiful family of ours, most important of whom are our kids!

Jamai & Vané

Complications of the Mind is the title of 18-year-old Art Start student, Jamai’s masterpiece print at Agora Gallery this week and next week as part of the annual Chelsea International Fine Art Competition. (www.agoragallery.com)

Jamai is a participant in Art Start’s One-to-One Apprenticeship program. Once a week for the past year, she has gone to an apprenticeship in painting at the studio of Vané Russo, a painter who is also an Art Start volunteer teaching artist (www.vanerusso.com). Art Start apprentices are at-risk youth who work one-on-one with volunteer artists to hone skills in their favorite medium and receive artistic guidance along with a stable mentor-like friendship. The mentors dedicate 2-5 hours per week to their apprentice. Art Start currently has apprenticeships in painting, sewing, fashion design and graphic design.

Complications of the Mind is Jamai’s first completed piece, and her first attempt at the woodcarving method. Looking at the photo, there is so much that you don’t see in the process that took place to create this print. Jamai carved the arrow, by hand, from a block of wood. It took weeks of carving to perfect the shape and texture. Once finished, she used her new sculpture as a stamp of sorts, with ink, to create the images on paper.

Complications of the Mind, By Jamai

Inspired by her love for graffiti-style art, Jamai created this piece to express herself and free her mind. Agora Gallery created a space for Jamai’s work for the annual Chelsea International Fine Art Competition. I attended the opening reception last week with Jamai and it was a beautiful sight to see so many people stop and admire her work, read her artist statement, and take photos of her piece.  It was Jamai’s first real “opening.”

Having just graduated high school after a long struggle, Jamai was recently offered a scholarship to attend the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.  She’s been through so much in life since coming to Art Start, and we are incredibly proud of her strength and perseverance. It inspires us every time we’re in her presence.  She is a miracle, a soldier, an angel, and her intense talent never ceases to amaze us.

Seeing one of our kids at her first real gallery opening in a prominent NYC gallery? Another great week!

Greetings, Art Start Fam!

This past week at one of our shelters, we had some monumentally magical moments with our 5-12 year olds in Monday Night Drum Circle. Drumming with the youth this summer has been a roller coaster for the crew, full of joys and special challenges. The kids find drumming as a new way to release their stress, learn Buddha-like patience, create utter cacophony that later becomes magic, and learn, along with our volunteers, to take lots of deep breaths!

The volunteers and youth drummers have really come through some emotional times, learning to drum, learning to respect the equipment and each other, listening to each other’s beats, playing together as a corps - even just standing still with drum sticks in their hands! No small feats here. Young kids pent up in a shelter want nothing more than to make their voice heard loudly. Other kids pent up in a shelter hide, yearning for the courage to make their voice heard. Art Start Drum Circle has had both of these kids in our workshop this summer.

Corralling their focus with drum sticks in hand each Monday has been trying, but we keep at it little by little, and this week we had a huge breakthrough!

The song for the week, in honor of the late Michael Jackson, was “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” If you’ve seen the video or heard the song, you know how moving it is. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCqQ2JcQWGs

The kids watched the video and immediately got to work, dividing up into two rooms, drummers in one and singers/dancers in the other.

First, the drum group had an improvisational warm up, to get their juices flowing. Every week during the improv exercise you can kind of hear a pattern coming, but there would always be someone adding chaos to it and the beat would never really come together. But this week, all the kids were able to focus on our instructions, listen to each other, and then make up a simple beat that goes with the lead person. This week, the lead was 11 year old Saquil- a natural talent, always picking up every beat right away. The whole group followed his basic beat and then joined in with his or her own beat. We had a great cadence going strong. Then, all the sudden, Saquil started playing these amazing solo beats over the top! Everyone in the room, especially the kids, started smiling and laughing so loudly because we actually sounded like a real drum line! We kept it going and while we were playing, the singers and dancers next door heard our music and stopped their rehearsal, just to listen to our beats! Outside in the hallway, shelter residents who normally blew off our “pounding” were collecting around our door, just to listen to us.  The best part of the whole night was seeing the drummers’ prideful excitement. They KNEW they sounded great and finally got it!

On to the Michael Jackson piece…

Drummers got to working on the basic drum beat for the song. They were able to take the positive energy from the improv success and apply it toward focusing on this new beat that they would all play in unison. Once they got it down, some kids started to take turns experimenting with their own solo beat on top of the group. This is something they’d never done before!  The confidence to experiment was palpable.

Next door, the singers and dancers were hard at work, learning the lyrics and dance moves from the video.

We all came together at the end for our own rendition of the song and it was absolutely amazing!

Next week, the group will review as many songs as they can remember from the past 5 weeks, and then take their performance outside onto the sidewalk in front of the shelter for anyone to see and hear.

This week was just a reminder of how incredible it is to work with our beautiful, courageous kids. One of the unique elements of Art Start’s workshops is that some kids come and go each week due to the unpredictable nature of their lives. Other kids are there every week for six months. This makes for a very challenging traditional learning environment, which is why what we do is so special. We base our workshop model on this level of inconsistency. Because of it, kids can finally feel at home somewhere, able to participate in organized activities that don’t require them to have control over life situations that are inherently out of their control as a shelter kid.

To welcome them, we have a very consistent schedule and the same super committed volunteer faces each week. This provides a safe space for homeless youth to try new things and grow through creativity without the stigma or shame they sometimes feel joining groups outside the shelter. We present mini-projects that are complete each workshop, inside a larger project that spans weeks. This provides a sense of completion each night, tailored for kids that may never return to Art Start if they move out, while providing a larger sense of accomplishment and project completion for kids that happen to be able to stay in the workshop for multiple weeks.

From a project planning perspective, it is a constant challenge. Huge progress one week is often thwarted the following week when half of the kids move out and new kids move in.  It can feel discouraging.  But it is at the core of our mission to reach all of those children that fall between all of the cracks because of circumstances beyond their control.  Art Start volunteers have a special coat of resilience to continue to plow through these challenges and love our kids because of these challenges, not in spite of them.

This week, when our kids exhibited the courage and confidence to play their own creative solo drum beats over a group of their peers, the compassion to listen to each other’s beats and collaborate to make beautiful music, and the confidence to cheer for their friends’ success, we felt as though our special recipe for creative expression in a place that is inherently unstable and chaotic was a huge success.  It was one of those GREAT weeks.

Hey, Art Start Family!

Stay tuned to this blog for stories of our work, straight from the journals of our teaching artists and volunteers that lead the many workshops that we conduct each week inside the city’s shelters, group homes and alternative sentencing programs.  We hope to invite you inside our world with tales of the wonderful joys we experience and hard lessons we learn each week as we bring the creative process to some of the most challenging environments in the city. 

Thank you for supporting Art Start with your time and interest in this wonderful work.

Peace,

Johanna De Los Santos

Executive Director, Art Start