Press Releases

Contact: Gail Donovan
Donovan Communications
718-399-2122

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ART CREATED BY BUSHWICK KIDS UNVEILED
AT LOCAL ART OPENING

BROOKLYN, NY—August 15, 2006—While some kids spent their summer in front of the TV or attached to a video game, a group of young people from Bushwick, Brooklyn, spent several hours every week creating art at a workshop offered by Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers’ (BPC’s) Bushwick Mental Health Center.

The children who participated in the workshop unveiled their murals and sculptures for their families at a recent art opening held at the community-based clinic located at 1420 Bushwick Avenue.

“She really loved it,” one mother said of her 11-year-old daughter, who created one of the colorful sculptures on display. “She rushed home from summer school to make sure that she came here on time, and she talked about it so much when she came home. Her eyes really lit up. After all, how often to you get a chance to work with a professional artist?”

The artist who presented the workshop, Emmett Wigglesworth, is part of The Children’s Art Carnival, an organization that has been teaching art to children since the late 1960s when it was affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Wigglesworth is a muralist, painter, sculptor, fabric designer, and poet as well as an art teacher.

“I didn’t want to go at first,” admitted Justin, 12. “But when I went it was fun. It was one of the best summers I’ve ever had. Art is fun. You don’t stay home all day watching TV or playing video games. I think more people should try it.”

Justin described Mr. Wigglesworth, better known as Brother Emmett, as a great teacher who taught the group how to draw and make different shapes. “He said when you draw, be free,” Justin explained.

Joanne Siegel, LCSW, administrator of the Bushwick clinic, said the children who participated in the art workshop are clients or relatives of clients at BPC’s Bushwick Mental Health Clinic.

“A lot of our kids have difficulty expressing themselves verbally so this workshop enabled them to express themselves through art,” Ms. Siegel said. “They were exposed to art mediums they’ve never worked with before. The workshop also gave them the opportunity to work on their cooperative skills.”

The theme for the summer workshop was “Teamwork” and every activity or project was connected to that theme, said Jose Ortiz, program director for The Children’s Art Carnival, who presented each child with a certificate and a box of art supplies.

“All of the projects on the wall, the murals, were done collectively,” Mr. Ortiz said. “The children used shape making to create the mural and took that information and applied it to the sculptures.”

Also, to help the children focus at the beginning of every class, they created art in complete silence by using materials to build blocks. The children showed how well they cooperated with one another by demonstrating this activity for their families at the art opening.

Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of BPC, said she was so pleased with the art projects the children created that she plans to display them at the agency’s gala on October 19, which will kick off the organization’s 100th year anniversary activities. She also hopes to introduce the art workshops at BPC’s other community clinics.

BPC provides 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 and the borough’s public schools. Its diverse staff of more than 100 professionals provides more than 60,000 visits annually to adults, seniors, children and their families.  More information is available at 718-875-5625 or www.bpcinc.org.

More information about The Children’s Art Carnival is available at www.childrensartcarnival.org.

The children who participated in the summer art workshop at BPC’s Bushwick Mental Health Clinic proudly stand in front of the murals they created and display the certificates they earned.

Dr. Pamela Straker, president and CEO of BPC, left, with one young artist and her mother in front of the participant’s completed sculpture.

Children who participated in the art workshop admire their sculptures.