Every voice was important to create an authentic work of art. Some shared where their family came from, but many more shared where their heart is. Scuderi felt sure that by telling the world “where I am from” through art, the students would build a strong message of unity through diversity. According to its website, the I Am From Project aims to respond “to the rhetoric of xenophobia and isolationism that is becoming rampant in our country.” He worked with students for two days to create poems using a template from the website, based on a poem by George Ella Lyon. Scuderi met with teaching poet Jacob Winterstien, whom they tapped as a visiting artist for the project. The transformative work began in February of this year. Through Artists in Education, the district was able to bring in Gail Scuderi, a ceramic artist, who could help the school design and install a mosaic to permanently cover the graffiti. The latter gives grants of $10,000 to schools to pay a professional artist for a residency to collaborate with the faculty and students on a specific project. Young Artists to the rescueĮventually, Superintendent of Schools Nancy Gartenberg told Warshafsky about the Young Audiences program, and Young Audiences in turn told him about the Artists in Education program. Six years later, and thanks to the collaborative work of students and a professional artist, the space carries a whole new message. She also knew they would need more people to produce the tiles. “I always wanted to cover that spot with a ceramic mosaic, but I knew I didn’t have all the skills to bring it to fruition alone,” Dailey said. Over time, that plywood began to warp and deteriorate. The buildings and grounds crew attempted to remove the paint, with only limited success, so the student council quickly erected a plywood sign painted with the word “Community” to cover up the graffiti remnants. The hate message was particularly offensive because the school is a place where students go out of their way to help others, according to Adam Warshafsky, the school’s arts supervisor, and Tina Dailey, a ceramics instructor.
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