Harlem Families Celebrate the Roots of Love

Last month, students at PS 155 in Harlem gathered with their family, community, and friends to celebrate the power of love and art. Dance music played as over 100 students and their family members worked with Creative Art Works Teaching Artists on a “Roots of Love” art project.

Using the works of Romare Bearden and Henri Matisse as inspiration, the goal of this project was to create a “learning tree” that represents yourself, your family, or your community. This could be a literal landscape with trees, an abstract composition, or any other way that the artist chose to interpret the prompt. Working alone or in family groups, participants were invited to visually represent their own family with collages crafted from construction paper, metallic prints, stamps, pastels, and markers.

While the event took place the day after Valentine’s Day, the inspiration for the event was suggested by an annual theme chosen by PS 155 Assistant Principal Ayo Mendez-Torres.

“During the month of February, the PS 155 school community came together to showcase our love for Black History month, social justice, and family, in our Festival of Love celebration. Creative Art Works organized an event that was engaging and afforded our families an opportunity to bond with their children, demonstrate their love for family and, most of all, embrace joy.”

— PS 155 Assistant Principal Ayo Mendez-Torres

The cafeteria overflowed with joyful art-making. After the students and their families finished their collages, they shared a meal together, provided by the school and catered from a local restaurant. With full tummies and full hearts, students closed out the event with a spontaneous dance party.

This event was made possible, in part, through a NYC Department of Education Office of Arts and Special Projects Family Engagement grant, which promotes school-based arts partnerships to not just expand arts opportunities for students, but to also boost parent, family, and community engagement around all aspects of students’ education.

According to the DOE, “…principals frequently cite challenges in creating opportunities for family engagement when implementing their school-based arts programs. At the same time, parents indicate… a strong desire to see more arts programs and/or learn more about the arts offerings at their children’s schools. Arts and Family Engagement grants help address these challenges by funding projects that create family connections to the arts programs offered at school while building upon schools’ existing arts partnerships and programming.”