Silvermine Brings Art to Under Resourced Schools

Sophia Gevas (re)introduced the Silvermine Arts Center to Sunrise Rotary on Friday. After an overview, Ms. Gevas, the Center’s Outreach Education Director, talked largely about programs that engage low income and minority school children in “under resourced urban schools” in Norwalk and Stamford, about giving them an introduction to the practice and appreciation of art, and providing an exposure they may not otherwise be able to access.

Ms. Gevas is a widely exhibited painter, she was a professor of studio art and art history at Sacred Heart University, and the Director of its Gallery of Contemporary Art for over 20 years.

Today’s Silvermine Arts Center was begun by visionary sculptor Solon Borglum after moving to the area in 1906. He established a place for artists to gather, and he formed the Knockers Club—a gathering of artists who “would knock each other’s works.”

Borglum was “one of the finest public artists of his age, creating works in stone and bronze, typically as commissions.” His brother Gutzon is better known, as the sculptors of the memorials at Mount Rushmore and Stone Mountain, GA.

Borglum hosted exhibitions in his barn from 1908 until his sudden death in 1922. Soon thereafter the artists formed the Silvermine Guild of Artists to preserve their community, and in 1924 they formed the Silvermine School of Art.

Today’s institution is a 501(c)(3) made up of over 300 professional artists accepted to membership by a jury of their peers. Their works are exhibited in five galleries, and exhibits are rotated about every six weeks to keep them fresh. Gevas noted that about 12,000 visitors view the shows annually.

The Gallery also offers docent led tours for seniors, students and other interested groups. The Guild trains artists to act as docents and talk about how the works were created.

Silvermine’s School of Art offers over 100 classes for all skill levels on a variety of media—from beginning drawing to professional level classes in such arts as printmaking, jewelry, pottery, ceramics. Last year 4,500 students took advantage of these classes.

Silvermine offers many other attractions. It has historically hosted programs including the New York Philharmonic and the innovative Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham dance companies. It has a sculpture garden, free monthly artist’s talks, and a Fine Arts and Crafts Shop.

They also offer a range of activities for children, including Art Spy, a game that introduces them to visual art by having them search out particular paintings or elements, and summer camps and teen workshops.

Gevas called children’s programs, particularly the free and subsidized ones that reach more than 700 low income school children in Norwalk and Stamford, including after school programs at Nathan Hale Middle School, Norwalk Housing Authority and for the Family and Children’s Agency.

Gevas’ programs “encourage critical thinking, collaboration and literacy skills to help close the achievement gap that exists in Connecticut public schools.”

In Norwalk’s Silvermine Elementary School students create a permanent 16’ x 20’ mural on a school wall that classes leave as parting gifts, and that many come to view later.

In a Nathan Hale Middle School after school program students work for an entire year creating portfolios that help those who want to continue taking art classes in high school. As a part of this they learn the vocabulary of art, and to critique their own work first, then that of their classmates, and thy learn “what they should and should not say.”

Last spring third graders at Norwalk’s Brookside Elementary School collaborated with Fodor Farm to learn about herbs, vegetables, flowers, birds and bees. They learned to blend colors and they painted structures—scare crows (or garden people). “Pretty cool work for third graders.”

In 2013 kids from the Norwalk Housing Authority got out of their environment and helped the Brazilian band Maracatu prepare for a performance at Silvermine. Using sign language and iPhone translators to communicate, they worked with band members making costumes. Then they learned the dances, overcame their shyness and performed. They drew applause from 450 people. “An incredible experience.”

Those interested in learning more about Silvermine are invited to visit their website: https://www.silvermineart.org

Photo by Hal Levy