The United Federation of Teachers

A dazzle of color and creativity

Jun 4, 2009 12:55 PM

[For more photos, go to the “A dazzle of color and creativity” gallery]

The first Family Arts Day at PS 46 in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene section on May 16 was so much fun, staffers say, plans are already under way to hold two more festivals, next fall and spring.

More than 100 parents, students and staff members participated in the Saturday event outside the Edward C. Blum School.

“We haven’t had any activity like this around here before,” said Paula Morrison, the school’s chapter leader, who has worked at the school for nearly 20 years.

The Family Arts Day festival featured paintings and giant candy boxes made by some of the 370 students in arts classes at the pre-K through 5th-grade school.

Children danced and played in the street, which was blocked off, and got creative making jewelry and picture frames. They also made a lasting impact on the school environment by painting a mural on the side of the school building.

You couldn’t walk by the art fair without marveling at a New York Mets chair made from newspaper clippings of the Amazin’s, as well as the wonderfully colorful chair pictured at left.

“We have a new principal, Karyn Nicholson, who’s working to make the school more family- and community-oriented,” said Morrison. The school community has welcomed the change, and more artistic collaboration seems to be in the future.