It Just Happened
Work by Participants in Smack Mellon’s
Summer Arts Intensive Program
Bryah Allison, Marcelo Barrera, Adam Burns, Cody Castro, Kelissa Halley, Jahmel Lawyer, Brianna Payamps, Shawn Pettis, Kai Ché Roxborough, Michael Sheffey
Exhibition dates: August 29 – 31, 2008
Reception: Thursday, August 28, 4 – 6 pm
It Just Happened is an exhibition of work created and curated by students during Smack Mellon’s Summer Arts Intensive program. During the month of August, the students produced work in diverse media, including drawing, painting, photography, video, sculpture, and installation.. The works in It Just Happened reflect the artists’ daily lives, vivid imaginations, and stimulating surroundings. The accompanying catalogue gives insight into their art and their experience in the program.
Smack Mellon’s Summer Arts Intensive is an arts education program designed to give students aged 12 to 15 hands-on experience working in a variety of artistic disciplines. The program runs Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm for the month of August. Each week the students work with a different teaching artist or pair of artists who are experts in their field. Jena Kim, a professional painter, taught painting and drawing in the first week of the program. Under her guidance, the kids painted imaginative dream rooms and made colorful collages. Video artists Michael Paul Britto and Jessica Ann Peavy led the kids on scavenger hunts around Dumbo, finding exciting material for photos and videos. In the third week, installation artist Sonya Blesofsky, along with sculptor Maia Palileo, guided the kids in the creation of fanciful string installations, creative soft sculptures, and impressive paper structures. The students also benefited from exposure to museums and art spaces through weekly field trips. This summer the kids visited the Guggenheim Museum, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Modern Art Foundry, and took a boat tour of Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfalls.
Smack Mellon is a non-profit arts organization in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Its mission is to nurture and support emerging and under-recognized women and mid-career artists by providing access to the technology, studio space, and exhibition space necessary for the realization of ambitious projects. In the Fall of 2007, Smack Mellon initiated its first arts education program Art Ready, and this summer marks the pilot session of the Summer Arts Intensive program.
Smack Mellon’s Summer Art Intensive is made possible with public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and with generous support from Smack Mellon members.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas Family and Two Trees Management.