New York City’s public school students returned to Washington Square Park for the third year to present the newest benches they painted for several city parks — with messages espousing both long-standing and modern issues impacting young people.
“Be the pillars of peace.”
“Religion is like a pair of shoes. Find one that fits for you but don’t make me wear your shoes.”
“Anxiety is something that is part of me but it’s not who I am.”
Through a stunning and thought-provoking display of public artwork in Washington Square Park, New York City students chimed in on some of society’s most pressing and poignant issues: gun violence, racism, mental health, climate change and environmental justice.
Dozens of painted benches, hundreds of youth, and proud teachers lined around the Washington Square Fountain as onlookers snapped photos of the benches and absorbed the messages being passed on from the students.
On Friday, all 30 benches that were painted will be transported to their new homes in New York City public parks for a summer exhibition lasting through August.
Those parks are: Jackie Robinson Park in Manhattan, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Cunningham Park in Queens, Reverend T. Wendell Foster Park in The Bronx, and Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island.
The Benchmarks program is overseen by the Center for Educational Innovation (CEI), a public education advocacy nonprofit based in New York City. The program aims to empower students to share their voices — and is now in its third year of organizing city youth to choose a major social issue and translate that into public artwork.
This year, students reemphasized social, racial, cultural, and ecological topics — some of which still remain deeply-rooted issues in New York City — in their artwork: racial injustice, gun violence, mental health awareness, bullying, respect for the environment, religious freedom, LGBTQIA+ rights, and world peace.
Alexandra Leff, creator of the Benchmarks…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply