Black History Month Celebrated at PS 676, by Nathan Weiser

On February 16, PS 676 hosted a Black History Month family art night with activities for the students.

The art night went from 4:30 until 6:30 as Red Hook Art Project and Pioneer Works instructed the students. The kids did collages and paintings based on Black artists from New York City.

RHAP made a giant fabric art collage that took up the size of a table that was inspired by the art of Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold. The students assisted with making the collage, which will likely be auctioned off at RHAP’s gala in May.

There was also inspiration from Mickalene Thomas, who is from Brooklyn, since her use of glitter in her art was used in the corners of the collage. Ringgold is a painter, mixed media sculptor, performance artist and quilter who is still doing art at 92 years old.

There were various tables around the cafeteria with information on various Black artists. One table had information on Kahinde Wiley, and a picture of the painting she did of President Barack Obama in 2018.

Other tables had information and paintings of Thomas, Ringgold and Bearden. The kids had magazines, scissors, colored paper and glue at the tables and got to do drawings based on what those artists were known for.

Pioneer Works organized a painting class that the students signed up for right before it began. They all put on aprons and sat at two tables in the back with easels in front of them.

Each of the 14 students draw one of Derrick Adams’s more well known paintings. Adams is a Black artist who is based in Brooklyn.

The students had Adams’s painting next to their easels and were instructed by Pioneer Works staff to draw it to the best of their ability. They started by drawing a big circle for the face

All the kids drew the painting in their own way and got to take their painting home.

Jonathan Ojekunle, who has been the Pioneer Works artist in residence for the last six months, knows Adams and said his art is being displayed at Penn Station. He also has a project titled I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation.

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield had a table with a Black History educational activity book and other information including health tips.

The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development had a table with housing rights and eviction information.