The Art School Without Walls, Vol. 2 – Organic New York (w/ Sofia Maldonado and H Veng Smith)

Volume 2 of the Art School Without Walls – Organic New York

Los Galeristas Adolescentes will work with Sofia Maldonado and H Veng Smith, two visual artists of diverse backgrounds and artistic styles, to create a public art piece in an abandoned space in Manhattan.

Coming to 5th St. & Avenue D on May 20, 21, and 22!

Mural by Sofia Maldonado, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The overpopulated urban landscape urges us to paint a mural that celebrates the native floral and fauna species of the area while simulating a sense of nature in a community that lacks it. Many Manhattan neighborhoods such as Harlem and Lower East Side have empty corner lots. We simply want to revive one of them with a public art piece. The mural’s images will be painted on the building’s walls, facing the street, and will provide engaging artwork for both pedestrians and motorists to enjoy.

The mural will incorporate latex and aerosol paints that enhance the development and appearance of the site and will not have an adverse effect on the safe and efficient movement of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Vibrant eye-popping mural colors will be considered, but will be complimentary and harmonious with the exterior colors of the building structure, and consistent with the chosen theme.

H VENG Smith

The mural hopes to engage the local community as well as all passers-by. “Organic New York” will use art as a tool for social change by beautifying a neighborhood through the transformation of an abandoned lot.  It will engage the community and bear new interpretations to a forgotten space, as well as by showing that idle spaces can be used to create new worlds.

The Art School Without Walls revives the spirit of apprenticeship in the arts bypassing traditional arts education by pairing urban teens with working artists in the production of significant works of public art.

Props to the artist Retna for supporting the Art School Without Walls, Volume 2 – Organic New York.

The Art School Without Walls, Vol. 1


Organic New York  is made possible in part with public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by New York State Council on the Arts and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

La Escuelita Comenzó! – The Art School Without Walls is (Un)Officially Open – Vol.1 w/ Sofia Maldonado

Here’s a clip of cre8tive YouTH*ink going hard on day 1 of the Ray Smith Studio Presents! Art School without Walls, Vol. 1 with Sofia Maldonado!

I am I am shamelessly soliciting your patronage and support via Kickstarter .

For those of you already over Kickstarter – all of our crew earned a day’s pay on Saturday, and we had twice as many kids as we expected –  we can really use all the help we can get. So, ignore the following and just do it already!  🙂

We resume work on Tuesday – with a our High School Galeristas expected at 4pm. I think there will be many mouths to feed!!

For those of you who don’t know about it.  Kickstarter is a fund raising internet platform for creative projects. It’s formally called “crowd funding”, and it allows the public to support projects that they want to. Each level of support triggers a reward for the funder, and the public can now support projects that they like for as little as $5-$10-$25 or more.

It’s more about taking the time than it is about the amount you pledge – the smaller pledges have really been adding up. It’s nice to know that your few bucks really count!

Please do it NOW! Kickstarter

One Love – Love Mista Oh.

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