nycha art

nycha campers create art-inspired banners at the brooklyn museum

For several summers starting in the 1990s, visual artists from the Harborview Art Center have taken NYCHA youth on guided tours of New York City museums – in particular the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum. In addition to seeing some of the most renowned works of art up close, the children, ages 6-12 also have an opportunity to draw their own adaptations of well known art installations.

After the tour, the youth groups work on large-scale pre-stained banners, either at the museum, or sometimes at NYCHA events, such as the Citywide Carnival in Prospect Park, or the Education Through Sports Day in Red Hook Park. Using their pencil drawings as a guide, the children reproduce enlarged versions of their drawings onto the banners using colored fabric markers. Most banners are not pre-planned, but a theme gradually emerges from the juxtaposition of similar or contrasting art work. Later the art teachers add details including titles and credits.

Banners from the 2011 NYCHA Art Camp were created by NYCHA youth in the spacious two-story interior of the Brooklyn Museum’s Grand Ballroom, located in the center of the museum. The banners can now be seen in NYCHA’s online photo gallery below.

Many thanks to our dedicated team of Harborview artists and art education consultants: Ava Tomlinson, Aleathia Brown, Anthony Hamboussi, Carlton Murrell, Carol Blank, Eilis Soto, Francisca Benitez, Jennifer Wade, Louis Patrice Piard, Maxine Raysor, Michele Godwin, Miguelangel Ruiz, Felipe Mujica, Omar Ali, Rebeca Patel, Rachelle Mozman, Reuben King, Robert Devoluy, Joseph Falero, Rowana Johanna Shepard, William Lucero, Sylvia McRae, Maxine Raysor, and Tesfaye Tessema.