Bronx Art Collective

                                All images courtesy of John Alexander 

Artist John Alexander shared his artistic practice with BAC participants and lead a drawing workshop focusing on composition and placement. 

“Born in 1945 in Beaumont, Texas, Alexander remained in southeast Texas until entering graduate school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in1969. Upon completing an MFA in 1970, he moved to Houston, established a studio and became a member of the art faculty of the University of Houston. In the late 1970’s Alexander left Texas for New York where he is to this day. The artist currently divides his time between New York City and Amagansett. John Alexander has exhibited extensively in the United States and around the world, most recently in Beijing. He has had a major retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. His work is included in the permanent collections of leading museums including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the Dayton Institute in Ohio, the Dallas Museum of Art; The Meadows Museum in Dallas, The McNay Museum in San Antonio, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Nevada Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans; the Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, as well as many other distinguished public and private collections worldwide.”

BAC participants were inspired and are looking forward to another visit next year.

We wanted to congratulate BAC participant Kassie Padilla for winning a Gold Key in the 2017 Scholastic Awards! Her work will be on view at The Met from March 24 - May 29. 

Ayadilis Chalas, Is This Real?, Mixed Media on Canvas, 2017

The piece I created expresses concern. Concerned of what’s going to happen next. My painting shows a woman with a concerned expressions while she is holding her child. The woman is afraid of losing her apartment, while she knows that it is not the best living space, The monthly pay adds up to her income. While dealing with the responsibility of being a young parent and now carrying the stress of possibly losing the apartment, she is worried about the life her and the child would deal with. Gentrification brings fear for many people because making enough money to pay the bills and keep the apartment is already difficult, the challenge increases if the individual that is unable to earn enough is able keep up with the rent. Gentrification makes it harder for low income families to live in decency.

Jahchina DeLeon, Toppling Transitions, Oil on Canvas, 2017

In order for gentrification to thrive, the people living in an area have to be forcibly removed,  thereby draining the neighborhood of it’s culture and productivity as a community. I call this white-washing. Then the color of dominance moves into gentrifying areas and rent prices go up, new structures are built and hipster coffee shops open. My triptych shows the life of a young girl living in the process of gentrification. The first piece of art is made with charcoal, it represents a black woman in an area that is deemed unworthy and unfit to thrive, and it's broken down shattered and tattered. In the second painting, it is gentrification under construction, buildings are being created and a new look is being started. Yet the woman stays and she begins to slowly lighten, as she lightens she begins to be sad, contradicting the fact that lighter is better. In the last piece, she is the same woman, now she is crying, because although the world around her is beautiful and fits perfectly into place, this woman is in a constant struggle.

Sunshine Martin, Culture for Sale, Oil on canvas, 2017 

Bronx Art Collective participants reflected on the question - Why do we stay?

1. It is our right to stay

2. To help our community

3. To fight for our rights

4. It’s home

5. We’ve been through too much to leave and refuse to give up!

6. Pride & Love

7. There is nowhere else to go

8. Don’t appease the oppressor

9. To preserve the communities culture

Summer Intensive 2016 art opening and presentation. 

DreamYard, WHEDco and the Bronx Borough Presidents office held a ribbon cutting event at Railroad Park to launch the BPP’s Bronx Youth Corp, a community service learning initiative for Bronx youth. The event also celebrated Bronx Tracks, a mural designed by BAC alumni Diana Perea, and commissioned by WHEDco for NYC Parks. The mural is a site-specific installation designed to activate the park and to create a more pedestrian-friendly experience along E. 161st Street between the bustling courthouse center at Morris Avenue and the less trafficked three-block stretch to Elton Avenue. A team of Bronx Art Collective mural artists, two BAC alumni, and an intergenerational team of community volunteers installed the mural this past summer, spurring conversation, creativity, and a new favorite destination among community members and groups. 

Community partners came together on Wednesday to transform Railroad Park in the South Bronx. DreamYard’s Bronx Art Collective with volunteers from Mission Continues and Goldman Sachs painted a 120 ft mural, planted flower beds, and a made a walking path, beautifying the green space and creating a vibrant social space for the community. Children and parents walking by jumped in wanting to paint, Bronx News 12 reported on the action, and at the end of the day, community members in the park said they wanted to form a “Park Watcher” team to take care of the park. Many said the park had been neglected for over 30 years. The Bronx Art Collective Mural Team will conduct touch ups and finalize the mural next week. If you’re in the area check it out!

This community project was made possible with the help of:

BAC Summer Intensive is off to a great start. 20 young artists from the Bronx and neighboring Queens are learning about different artists, historical movements and creating artwork for their college portfolios. 

BAC mural artists have been working at Railroad Park this past week sketching in the design for “Bronx Tracks”. Our community paint day will be held on Saturday, July 9 from 10am - 4pm. Everyone from the community is welcome to come out and paint! A few residents from the neighboring NYCHA building helped us with the sketching portion. Let’s revitalize Railroad Park and make it a social space for community engagement. 

This mural is made possible by the support of: