RHAP becomes a Van Brunt neighbor, by Brian Abate

In 2009, the Red Hook Art Project (RHAP,) a non-profit was founded in order to provide free visual art and music classes, as well as academic and stress management instruction to children in the neighborhood.

Now, thirteen years later, RHAP is going strong and is opening up a new building on the corner of Van Brunt St. and Pioneer Street, Tiffiney Davis, the Executive Director and co-founder was kind enough to talk to me about the organization and how it has changed her life.
Though Davis did not always live in Red Hook, her father’s side of the family is from the area.

“Red Hook was my first apartment when I came out of the shelter system as I got accepted for NYCHA,” Davis said. “My children went to PS 27 and that’s how I met Deirdre Swords and we ended up founding RHAP together.”

Davis started off as the Parent Coordinator for RHAP from 2009-2014, then became Managing Director in 2014, and then the Executive Director in 2021. The organization has certainly had a big impact on Davis’ family.

“RHAP has changed my life and my children’s lives,” Davis said. “I have two kids who went to the organization. My son Tashawn, AKA Whaffle, is a very successful artist and was also the first student of the organization. Seeing him get accepted into art school, get scholarships, and to see his work in museums is incredible.

“My daughter went through struggles and used music as a way to write and deal with her emotions. She ended up graduating from high school a year early, went on to cosmetology school, and now is a phenomenal entrepreneur. Seeing both of my children go through the organization and now become successful has made me really happy and inspired me to continue to go on and continue the work that we do.”

She spoke about a few of RHAP’s other successful students.

“We have all successful students but here are a few who stand out: Brimaldi recently graduated from Murrow High School,” Davis said. “We helped him build his art portfolio and supported him in academics as well, so seeing Brimaldi graduate was really one of the highlights of the organization.

“We helped another student, Lizbeth, build her art and music portfolio and she ended up getting accepted at LaGuardia High School and now she’s graduated from high school and college. She and Brimaldi have both come back to be co-facilitators and teach some of our younger students. We actually rely on a lot of our former students to come back and help out newer ones, and they’ve done a great job.

“Another successful student is Jeylani who is also a phenomenal artist. She has so much courage and grit, and she’s a leader in the classroom for other students.”
Davis told me about some of her toughest challenges.

“One of the biggest tasks is we’re trying to uplift a lot of black and brown children who are coming from difficult situations and it’s been a challenge to find volunteers, especially volunteers who look like the children that they’re helping,” Davis said. “I’ve managed it by having a lot of former students come back to help out. RHAP’s board of directors also includes former students as well as members of the community who appreciate what we’ve done and wanted to get involved.

“Unfortunately, not being able to pay stipends or pay hourly wages makes it difficult to find people because so many people are struggling financially, especially since the pandemic.
“COVID also created some additional challenges. We always knew that food was an issue in our community but once the pandemic hit, we had to shut down and pivot. The first thing I thought because I grew up hungry was ‘how are people going to eat’ with basically everything shutting down in New York City.

“I was in a fortunate situation and I didn’t want to watch less fortunate people suffer. We pivoted to work with local people and businesses to give food and PPE supplies to community members. Also, about three or four days into the pandemic, we shifted our classes to virtual to be able to lead a lot of people safely, while still being on the ground, serving the community.

“I think sometimes people say there are two different sides of Red Hook but I think there’s one side and the pandemic forced us to come together and work to uplift each other.”

Davis also gave me some updates on when RHAP returned to in-person classes and what to expect at the new location on Van Brunt.

“We stayed mostly virtual until September of 2021 and then we got a shared space at Summit Academy Charter School so we were able to go there and start having in-person classes again,” Davis said.

“We’re really excited to have our home now at the new location on Van Brunt. We already have a class where students are learning to build and design their own skateboards. We also have our portfolio prep class going on now.

“I think it’s a great spot for us. Students will be able to have their own art shows, develop entrepreneur skills and give students a chance to make and record music. We plan to have a space where community members can set up pop-up shops and use the space for community meetings.”

Even though the former bodega is already being used for a few classes, Davis is expecting the new location to officially open up this October. They’re still working on adding a kitchen where students can eat and a recording studio, and also plan to fix up the floors and ceiling. Right now, the plan is to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 1st and have classes there on October 4th.

“I’d just like people to know that RHAP is a small organization and we’re here to serve the community,” Davis said. “We’d appreciate it if the community can continue to support us in such a great way. It makes a big difference.”

Brian Abate