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Messages are delivered in many ways but art is probably most powerful and not a
lot of people are able to express that with paintbrush.
Experiment is half of what you do in your life you always try out new things.
a baby they try walking, a little kid they try out learning how to ride a scooter ride a bike.
and for my mind I thought that my experiment was to work with like teenagers my age to make
something that's going to be considered historical to this school.
And so working with the kids it's really crafting that story and using whatever
arts whether it's visual arts whether it's media whether it's music whether
it's mentoring these are all just tools to serve and to help the individual,
the student, the teacher, the member in the community to discover an aspect of
themselves that perhaps by themselves they wouldn't discover until someone
asked that of them.
My art teacher pulled me aside like she's Iike, come here. I was like, okay.
and she goes, "you like painting?"
I was like, I like looking at paintings I'm not
a big painting person. She goes, "we're gonna start a mural,
right there in the staircase, where an old mosaic that was getting peeled off used to be at.
and I'm like in my head I'm like that won't be pretty bad let me try it.
First day I go in, and I see two people by the names of Sam and Anthony
immediately I just lock with them. it was just like, since they like art, it was just like
bound right there and they were like, "do you like drawing?" Yeah. and I showed a couple
drawings that I've made, a couple things I've done here and there. And they're like
you might do a really good part in this. So I stuck with it. I was gonna bail out
of it but I was like you know let me I stick with it.
For myself I was one of those kids. Art was my escape from life, from the struggles of life
from whatever was going on at home you know in my neighborhood and so we
provide an outlet, a way of expression, and not only for those actually being
involved with the mural, but those who look at the mural and get
inspiration you know so it's kind of like out there for those involved and
yet almost an escape from reality for those watching.
So normally you'd think that when you look at it, you're like "Wow! this is what BSSWA was all about."
you succeeding, you crossing this bridge of just education, of struggles of a teenager
struggles of living in the South Bronx alone. That alone puts you in like two
strikes, you know, and not a lot of kids are able to see that in a picture. They see
that in words, they see that in violence. I wanted to show it in a way where it
hits you emotionally and mentally and then the only way that I've seen is was
to stick with this mural, to put it in a staircase when if you're late to school
if you come to school, you're like I hate this school it's not going to get me to
be an artist or could be an author or to be a dancer. They open that door to that
staircase and they stop. They tell themselves, that mural, that kid sitting
on that bull. That could be me one day. Those kids in the bridge, that could be
one of me. like one of those could be me one day. So why stop now, why put myself in a position
where I can never be one of those kids crossing that bridge I'm not gonna be
the kid on top of that bull, crossing over the bridge,
succeeding with that diploma in my hand.
It's not everyday where a kid like me, who came out of a one-bedroom apartment
with like six brothers and sisters sitting down thinking she's not gonna
get anywhere it's not everyday where someone like Jeremy was gonna come up to
me and be like, I got a special role for you. I want you to take part in it
I can put that so that people can look at me and they'll be like, that's the girl who went through so much
if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be anywhere. I probably still just hold my
art to my chest and say it's gonna be alright imma do this. So now for someone to
hold the art for me and to give me that support, it's pretty heartwarming.
You know we all are students are just sort of trapped within
the existence that we're given. Fundamentally, I believe it's creativity
that can get us out of that. It's using the visual arts in such a way that it
gets to the heart of who they are the person.