feature stories
Living for art
May 22, 2008 10:36 AM
Bronx exhibit features disabled students’ work
Admiring one of the works are (from left) teacher Shari Rothfeld, student Justin Rosa, Assistant Principal Cheryle Green-Foster and student Terry Rosa.
In the student art exhibit “Making Choices for a Better Tomorrow,” Godzilla is a world savior right up there with Mother Teresa.
Portraits of both were among the vibrant drawings that showcased the imagination and drawing skills of the young artists, off-site students of PS 721/Bronx Occupational Training Center.
The students were thrilled to see their work exhibited at the office of Borough President Adolfo Carrion on April 17. Their art teacher, Shari Rothfeld, was ecstatic.
“I’m so proud of them, and proud of the students of my colleague Stephen Epstein, whose work is also in the show,” Rothfeld said. “It’s a great feeling for us to see kids with disabilities get recognized for their talent the same as kids without disabilities get recognized. The students feel just as good as any students would and it really gives them a sense of self.”
Rothfeld wasn’t sure the exhibit organizers were aware that PS 721 is a District 75 school when they invited it to participate, and she wasn’t about to tip her hand.
It didn’t matter to her that seven out of her 10 best students are autistic and can’t explain their work to anyone. The work speaks for itself, as does that of the three visually impaired kids. All of it is glorious, as anyone at the exhibit could see.
“These students live for art, love to draw, love to have their work exhibited, and even though they have disabilities they want to be artists in the future,” she said.
To convey the theme of the exhibit, Rothfeld spoke with her class about positive leaders, about people who work for change in the community and about choices that society can make to better the world such as recycling and saving electricity.
“Some kids have characters they like to draw and fit them into the theme. I have one kid who’s really into Godzilla, so he drew a picture of Godzilla saving the world.”
There are colored-pencil drawings, paintings and collages in the show “but most of the work are drawings made with markers, just what the kids naturally do,” said Rothfeld, who paints, draws and makes jewelry out of polymer clay. Teaching art is her dream job, and she cites AP Cheryl Green-Foster, the school’s Project Arts liaison, for supporting that dream in concrete ways.
“We’re lucky to have Project Arts in the school, to have an administrator who supports anything that advocates for art for kids, including my going to art workshops, and who understand that art is sometimes the only way for some kids to express themselves,” Rothfeld said.
Parents were beaming, young artists were basking in all the attention and feeling a little famous. And their teacher?
“It felt good knowing I’m doing something right,” she said.
