This is where you can find out about ART with HEART // Portraiture that Celebrates People!
ART with HEART is a project that was born from love and the ache of injustice. It was originally inspired in part by the Black Lives Matter movement. It is an art project that is positively focused on social justice with kids. When we look to our leaders, whether they are parents, teachers, or politicians, we naturally feel the most trust for people who are fair. Fairness seems like an old fashioned word, but it is what social justice is based upon.
This project is a home-made curriculum and a hands-on approach to overcoming fear and unfairness with Love and Play. It came from a too-long witness of unfairness. The heart wants justice and will have it. There are many things that people can do to become active allies for people who are experiencing unfairness in a systemic way in society. In the midst of all the other actions we can and must take together, it is also essential to play and celebrate each other’s gifts, talents and beauty.
On a personal note, during the decades that I was raising my child in community in Ithaca, New York, I began to learn about barriers and dangers that my family didn’t face, but that other families faced everyday. I’ll never forget when a friend of mine told me that her sons had a much higher likelihood of going to jail than my son, not due to anything they might have done, but because of different treatment because they were black and he was white. Years of research support what she said, only she knew it from having to see it in her community. I thought about that a lot over the years, and began to read and study and talk with others about these disparities, this reflection of unfairness. (I am extremely grateful to report that her sons and my son are well, safe and sound - and fine adults now!)
The pilot project in March 2017 focused on celebrating Black Lives, the project in 2018 will focus on women, and a future project will focus Immigrants and Indigenous People.
GALLERY ONE : ART with HEART- Some of the Children and their Art [Photographs by Emme, permission was given for photographs of children- please do not use]
Gallery Two: ART with HEART - a sample of the Art by itself [Photographs by Emme with permission, please do not use]
List of showings and workshops for ART with HEART 1. March 2017, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Court Street, Ithaca New York 2. May 2017, Gimme! Coffee MLK Jr Blvd, Ithaca New York 3. July - September 2017, Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL), Ithaca, New York 4. September 16, 2017 Family workshop to create portraits in TCPL 4. October 2017, Presented in Imagining America conference, Davis, California 5. January 2018, CAP ArtSpace Gallery, 171 E. State/MLK Street on the Commons, Ithaca, New York 6. UPCOMING Pending confirmation- Shambhala Center Art Space, Albany, New York