Photos from Ms. Brown's classroom

We are so pleased to see the effect that the supplies given to Ms. Brown's classroom have had. Ms. Brown's classroom was supported through the Vital Link exhibit in December. 

"The arts teach so many important lessons. I watch as my students become more confident and learn to take chances. They learn that at times there is no right answer and that thinking creatively can help you understand many things." - Ms. Brown

Thank you from Ms. Brown

Dear The Creative Cycle,

Thank you for donating to our art room. The supplies you have provided are the most basic art tools my students need to practice the many techniques and elements of art we study throughout the year. The markers and cap erasers are used daily. The color sticks are used to work on many different surfaces and produce the most amazing colors in the students art work. The watercolor paper could not have come at a better time. We use watercolors a lot and this is one of the students favorite mediums to work with in the art room. We are almost out of watercolor paper so the students will be so excited to hear that more is on the way. Thank you so much for helping my students and for all of your supportive and thoughtful comments.

With gratitude,
Ms. Brown

A note from Mr. Scheweizer

Dear The Creative Cycle,

I can't begin to express how grateful I am for your help! I have been bringing in supplies when possible, and my kids are always great when it comes to sharing with their classmates. But your generosity is overwhelming to me, and I'm looking forward to telling the kids that they will be working with brand new supplies very soon. I know that each and every one of them will want to show their appreciation with their own original works, which I will be proudly sharing with you. 

Thank you again for your kindness of spirit!

With gratitude,
Mr. Schweizer

 

Exhibit: A Vital Link

On December 13th, we held our first exhibit at Open Source Gallery in collaboration with the Five Collective. Some amazing artists donated their work:

  • Michael Adno
  • Colvin Brothers
  • Judy Cuker
  • Felicia Douglass
  • Ana Karimi
  • Rob Kulisek
  • Chrissy Reilly

In addition, many talented musicians donated pieces in progress to our first ever mixtape, available here.

The event was a huge success— we estimate 100 to 150 people came out to enjoy the artwork, and we sold almost $300 worth of art and music. With the proceeds, we were able to supply Ms.Brown's classroom at PS.154 Jonathan D. Hyatt with 12 packs of Crayola color sticks and paper, fund Ms.S's class, which is the only arts classroom at the Young Women's Leadership School (a public all-girls school in queens) AND help fund Mr. Schweizer's classroom at Q309 as well. 

More updates to come from these classrooms! Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the art and support arts education. 


Thank you from Ms. Pawson

Dear Creative Cycle,

Thank you so very much for your generosity. School started 3 days ago and my students were extremely excited to find out that donors like you were able to provide them with the necessary sketch books for art class. I am teaching sculpture and photography this year and a lot of our planning and sketching will be done in these books. Students will be able to use their new sketch books for the entire school year. This project will boost my teaching in many ways- allowing students to get excited about making art early on. The professional sketch books also will set a tone for the school year that encourages students to create high level work using great materials!

With gratitude,
Ms. Pawson

Thank you

The Creative Cycle helped bring watercolor painting into the lives of 24 students in Ms.Perret's classroom at the Future Leaders Institute Charter School, a high poverty elementary school in Harlem. Ms. Perret wrote a touching letter thanking all of you who helped! 

 

"Dear The Creative Cycle,

Thank you so much for contributing to this project! Integrating the arts into our core subjects is something that I have been working hard to do with my students. As the daughter of two artists, I grew up surrounded with paints, brushes and clay. By the time I was my students' age, I made dolls from recycled materials (yogurt cans, corks, etc) and drew daily. Few of my students have access to what I had as a child and any exposure to art is limited to field trips and what we do in school. I strongly believe my students need access not only to new technology, wonderful literature and a rigorous math curriculum, but they also need access to a plethora of art materials so they can learn to manipulate them and express themselves visually. I've bought and sent home crayons for many of my students who didn't have any and I'm hoping that with the materials from this project I can teach them to create using materials found at a dollar store. While my primary goal is to infuse art into our academic lives, my ultimate goal is for my students to transfer these skills to enrich their home lives. I'm thrilled that so many of you believe in putting the arts back into the classroom!

With gratitude,
Ms. P"