Brooklyn is a State of Mind
A series of paintings by CAW Youth Apprentices evoke familiar and famous Brooklyn sights to bring serenity and hope to a Kings County Family Court waiting room.
CAW YAs at work on “A Patchwork Mindscape”
CAW YA Masha Nazarova add details to the Coney Island Boardwalk
Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices (YAs) have painted over 25 works of public art at the Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn Family Courthouses. This summer nineteen YAs ages 16-24, and almost all Brooklyn natives, brought a variety of talents and experience, and a deep passion for Brooklyn, to an assignment with real gravitas: Bring beauty, serenity, and hope to visitors to an austere waiting area in the Kings County Family Court.
Working under the guidance of CAW Teaching Artists Cass Waters and Natalie Raskin, and Teaching Artist Assistant-in-Training Sanjida Mou, our YAs wanted to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere for visitors by invoking familiar images of Brooklyn cast in warm, pastel colors. Famous landmarks such as the Coney Island Wonder Wheel, Grand Army Plaza, Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the view from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, share space with quiet tree-lined streets, elevated trains, and waterfront vistas.
Adding texture to the painting
The art can be admired from a distance but also rewards closer examination. The paint is highly textured in places. Colorful birds, some as nestlings, some as magnificent adults in flight, are depicted across the canvases, adding a magical feeling to the design. All the panels are framed by a border of individual prints, inspired by NYC subway tiles, through which each youth apprentice made their own personal contribution to the work. This quilt of squares inspired the name of the paintings, “A Patchwork Mindscape.”
“Our hope was to make art that communicates to onlookers, both staff and people who might arrive at the court for various reasons, themes of community, peace, unity, family, nature and hope.”
CAW Youth Apprentice Dani Tyler-Zimmerman
CAW Youth Apprentice Divine Dawkins
“We incorporated prominent Brooklyn landmarks to populate our compositions, but put a whimsical and dreamy spin on it, creating an atmosphere of community and hope. There are tiles that frame the paintings and everybody had a hand in creating at least one tile to add to the design.”
The Process
The final art was the result of hours of brainstorming, sketching, and experimentation that created pages of studies. Our talented YAs tried their hand at markers, printing, watercolors, decoupage, and pastels before settling on the final design for the paintings.
Process Work
The Unveiling
The new art was unveiled at a joyful ceremony on August 11. In attendance were judges and officers of The Court, including Supervising Judge Gilbert Taylor, Clerk of the Court Ryan Darshan, Deputy Clerk of the Court Gordon Slattery, Family Court Referee and CAW Board Member Jennifer Reddin Cassar. Also in attendance were CAW Executive Director Karen Jolicoeur and Board Chair Andy Levin.
“We are so happy to have a partnership with Creative Art Works and build leadership in terms of not just Brooklyn Family Court but with the New York City Family Court and bringing art into our buildings.”
Supervising Jude Gilbert Taylor addresses CAW YAs at the unveiling
Dancing for Joy
After an enthusiastic round of applause, attendees were invited to admire the artwork up close. Many of the youth apprentices who worked on the paintings broke out into a spontaneous dance of joy.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “A Patchwork Mindscape” in this short documentary
Watch the documentary HERE.
Read more about the young artists who created the new mural for Kings County Family Court
Read the commemorative brochure HERE.
The Finished Art
CAW Teaching Staff
Natalie Raskin
Teaching Artist
Cass Waters
Teaching Artist
Sanjida Mou
Teaching Artist Assistant-in-Training
Documentary Staff
Maham Khwaja
Teaching Artist
CAW Staff
Karen Jolicoeur
Executive Director
Ian Newton
Director of Finance & Administration
Clair Vogel
Development Manager
Scott Lucas
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Donna Manganello
Program Manager
Kevin Claiborne
Program Manager
Riki Sabel
Program Manager of Teaching & Learning
Emilio Vides-Curnen
Operations Coordinator
Madeline De León
Program Coordinator
Paola Gonzalez
Development & Communications Coordinator
EJ Meehan
Finance & Administration Coordinator
Our partners for this program include:
Our Thanks
Creative Art Works’ Public Art Youth Employment program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The program also receives support from the AEO Better World Foundation, the Find Your Light Foundation, the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation, the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Pinkerton Foundation, and the William Talbot Hillman Foundation. Creative Art Works’ programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Additional funding was provided by numerous corporate and individual sponsors and donors.
