‘Not Just A Continuation, But A Foundation’: Baldwin Student Art Unveiled At African American Museum

HEMPSTEAD, NY. — On a freezing night in Hempstead, students, teachers, administrators and parents from the Baldwin School District journeyed to the Joysetta & Julius Pearse African American Museum of Nassau County to see the unveiling of a student art exhibit in the museum. It’s the fourth year of a partnership between the African American Museum and the Baldwin School District that gives student artists the opportunity to display their art as a way to celebrate Black History Month.

The student gallery is housed at the rear of the museum, at the center of a room already fit with museum installations about giants of Black history. On one wall, there are photos and biographies of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall. On the opposite, there are installations on Shirley Chisholm, Jack Johnson and Susie King Taylor. In the middle, there’s artwork from Jameek Neely-Means, Zayenka Maitre, Samiah Banjo and more, with a total of 72 Baldwin students in grades three through 12 contributing to the exhibit.

In some pieces, student artists photographed their classmates in front of a monotone backdrop. In others, the students made collages around photos of figures they admired, or drew portraits of them. Some students made their own jewelry for display in the exhibit, others traced hands to emulate the work of Lois Mailou Jones.

On the museum end, the exhibit is spearheaded by Project Director Monet Green, a Hempstead High School graduate who has been at the museum since June of 2021. For Green, the exhibit is as much a chance to learn a thing or two from the students as it is a chance to celebrate their talent.

“It makes me feel like we’re equals,” Green told Patch. “Oftentimes as adults, we place ourselves in a situation where we’re above the students, but we’re all students. We’re all learning, and here, the students get to be the teacher.”

Among those students was Gavin Schlosser, a Baldwin seventh grader whose collage portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat is featured in the gallery. Schlosser said he admired Basquiat’s work for its abstract quality, and that he hoped visitors to the gallery would feel similar emotions to what he felt looking at Basquiat’s art.

“I hope they understand that Basquiat was a really inspirational artist,” Schlosser said. “His work conveys a lot of emotion.”

When the time came to kick off the unveiling, Baldwin School District Assistant Director of Instructional Programming Dr. Gabriella Franza introduced administrators, with superintendent Anthony Mignella and Board of Education President Pamela Green congratulating the students and expressing how proud they were that their work had ended up in a museum.

“The artwork is fantastic,” Green said. “The talent, the creativity, the risk these students took to create masterpieces.”

The administrators were followed by student speakers who reflected on the year’s theme, “Black joy,” and what it meant to them.

“Black joy can mean to be proud of your skin. It can mean to be proud of your heritage, your history, your background,” student speaker Philippe Toya said. “It can mean to be proud to honor those who have fought to get you to where you are today. It can mean to not be ashamed of your culture, and to be proud of where you truly come from.”

When it was her turn to address the assembled crowd, Green said the students’ art work was about more than what was on display in a gallery. The students’ creativity, Green said, was proof that they were a part of something bigger than themselves.

“This partnership represents more than just an art exhibit. It represents a bridge between generations, between education and culture, and between history and the voices of today’s young artists,” Green said. “Black History Month calls us not only to remember where we come from, but to recognize that history is still being written. The students whose work that you will see here tonight are not only learning about history, they’re also contributing to it through their creativity, their perspective, and their courage to express who they are and how they see the world.”

For student speaker Chase Chambers, the combination of Wednesday night’s theme, the history behind it and the student talent that made it possible all combined into a simple message.

“Overall, Black joy is simply one being able to be themselves and be leaders in the world,” Chambers told the crowd Wednesday night.

After the speaking program had concluded, students and their families walked back to the exhibition room and got to see their art on display. For Green, the art on display and the people that students chose to highlight were stunning, with one unfamiliar face standing out. In among the portraits of Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson and Nina Simone was a face she hadn't seen before.

“I found out who Katherine Dunham was this year,” Green told Patch, referring to a collage portrait of the dancer, choreographer and activist by seventh-grader Ann-Abigail Paul. “Unless you’re taking a dance class at an African American dance school, you wouldn’t know who Katherine Dunham is. And if you don’t know who the people are that came before you, it’s a hidden history.”

Teaching and learning about hidden history, Green said, is exactly the goal of the Baldwin student exhibit.

“I love to learn about things I didn’t know about. And that’s what this museum is all about,” Green said. “It’s about hidden history, it’s about African American history, and people who have made contributions to this world that we don’t learn about every day.”