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Donovan Communications
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

YOUNG ARTISTS HONORED AT BROOKLYN CAREWORKS
CELEBRATION IN BUSHWICK

BROOKLYN, NY—January 28, 2008—The young artists who participated in an art workshop where they created drawings and paintings reflecting their individual identities, their families, and their communities, were honored recently at a ceremony at Brooklyn CareWorks’ Bushwick Mental Health Clinic.

“The art workshop helped the children, who range in age from 7 to13, gain a better understanding of themselves and the roles they play in their communities,” said Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of Brooklyn CareWorks. “Their work illustrated how education and the political process can help them become citizens who contribute and make their community and society a better place.”

Eduardo Alexander Rabel, a visual artist and art educator with the Children’s Art Carnival who presented the hour and a half art classes each week at the Bushwick clinic, said the children completed several projects during the 10-week workshop. First, using oil pastel on paper, the children explored their individual identity by drawing animals such as sharks, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and tigers in answer to the question, “if you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?”

After completing the animal avatars, the children worked on a series of drawings and collages that used symbols to depict the various aspects of their personal identity, such as family, friends, music, favorite activities, or favorite foods, and assembled the work into a unique accordion book.

For the next project, the children used acrylic, markers, and collage on cloth napkins to create a personal window scene depicting their home and/or family. Then they glued their individual scenes onto a single background to create a quilt, which illustrated that they are part of a larger community. Finally, the children created a canvas mural featuring three actions individuals can take to help their community: teaching, protesting or demonstrating, and voting.

“It was a real pleasure to work with this group,” said Mr. Rabel, who presented the artists with a certificate at the ceremony. “They are a very creative bunch. They came here every Wednesday evening, worked hard, and did really wonderful work.”

One fourth grader who was an enthusiastic participant said creating art was new to him because his school doesn’t offer it as part of its curriculum. “I liked that we got to paint,” he said. “My favorite thing was painting, drawing, and making the book about where I come from and what I like to do.”

Joanne Siegel, director of the Bushwick Clinic, said this is the third time she has brought an artist from the Children’s Art Carnival into the clinic to present a workshop, and each time the children have created beautiful artwork. The children’s art work has been so well received that the Brooklyn Office of Massey Knakal Realty Services currently has on display five sculptures produced by children in one of the workshops, and images from colorful murals created by children in another session were used by the Montague Street BID for their holiday banners last December.

“This is a great program,” Ms. Siegel said. “We give the kids a special opportunity to do something they ordinarily don’t have the opportunity to do in their schools or the neighborhood. Creating art allows them to address feelings that they can’t express verbally but are able to address nonverbally through this medium.”

The art workshops have been so successful at the Bushwick clinic that Brooklyn CareWorks is seeking funding to introduce the program to its other clinics.

Founded in 1907, Brooklyn CareWorks (formerly Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers) offers borough-wide mental health services to Brooklyn’s most vulnerable residents through its clinics in Bushwick, Canarsie, Flatbush-Sheepshead Bay, Williamsburg-Greenpoint, and downtown Brooklyn, programs on-site in the borough’s public schools, an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program, a prevention program serving at-risk children and their families and senior programs. Thousands of adults, seniors, children and their families are helped during more than 60,000 visits to these programs each year. More information about Brooklyn CareWorks’ programs is available
at www.brooklyncareworks.org.

The Children’s Art Carnival has been teaching art to children since the late 1960s when it was affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art. More information about The Children’s Art Carnival is available at www.childrensartcarnival.org.

The young artists pose in front of their community quilt. Standing behind the children are from left to right: Jennifer Pitman, of the Bushwick Clinic; Joanne Siegel, director of the Bushwick Clinic; Eduardo Alexander Rabel, a visual artist and art educator with the Children’s Art Carnival; Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of Brooklyn CareWorks; and Marcia Mason, of the Bushwick Clinic.

The children and the canvas depicting the actions they can take to help improve their community.

The children proudly display the certificates they were given for participating in the art workshop.