By linda denicola
Staff Writer
Artwork by students at the Barkalow Middle School, Freehold Township, including this piece, “Terror Emerges” by Kaitlyn Buffone, was picked by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Inc. to become part of a project called ARTifacts: Kids Respond to a World in Crisis that represents the works of middle school and high school students from the New York City area and focuses on the impact of 9/11.
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Six art students from the Barkalow Middle School have already known the thrill of seeing their work displayed in venues they never dreamed of.
The students were picked by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Inc. to become part of a project called ARTifacts: Kids Respond to a World in Crisis that represents the works of middle school and high schools students from the New York City area and focuses on the impact of 9/11.
The students’ art teacher, Arlene Smelsen, is proud of her students.
"To have six of our kids picked is phenomenal. It wasn’t a large exhibition," she said, adding, "I am so proud of these children. They portrayed their feelings and emotions so well."
The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers is a not-for-profit organization that administers the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded the alliance $15,000 for the ARTifacts project, which highlights the role that creative expression can play in helping young people cope with life-changing events, work through grief, and move forward despite tragedy and upheaval.
Smelsen explained that the original exhibition opened last spring at the Diane von Furstenberg Studio Gallery in New York City, where a reception was held for students, parents and teachers. In addition, the work of three of her students was published in a book the Alliance produced called ARTifacts.
"The book includes art work and poetry. It’s a beautiful book," the teacher said.
All six of the Barkalow students were in the eighth grade at the time they were picked, Smelsen said. They are Kaitlyn Buffone, whose work is called "Terror Emerges"; Jessica Forté, whose piece is called "Shadows of 9-11"; and Michael Stringer, whose work is titled "We the People." Also selected were Tom DiNapoli’s work "So Proudly We Hail"; Sean Collins, "Thorns of Terrorism"; and Aaron Gachina, "Tears to Remember."
Smelsen said seeing their work displayed was very exciting for the students.
"One student decided to go into art as a result of the feedback she got from the exhibition. The whole thing keeps snowballing," the teacher said.
Indeed it does. According to a letter sent to the teachers, the staff of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Inc., New York City, has been busy fielding requests to use images and writings from the exhibition.
The art work of Smelsen’s students has been on exhibit at various places. The Kennedy Center hosted a small exhibition for the ARTifacts project. Twenty-four works were on display all of last month. In addition, a small ARTifacts exhibition was installed in the corporate headquarters of Scholastic Inc. in lower Manhattan for the month of September and an ARTifacts exhibition is on display through Jan. 5 at The Center for Arts Education, on Maiden Lane, lower Manhattan.
The letter also says that the ARTifacts exhibit is available on the Internet by going to www.artandwriting.com and clicking on the ARTifacts logo.