Hi, my name is Remi Ingerman and I am a senior at LREI. I love to spend my time walking aimlessly throughout the city.  Each neighborhood has so much to offer and is so unique. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoy art history. After taking a class my sophomore year of high school about renaissance art history, I have been heavily engrossed by the topic. Along the lines of art and art history, I enjoy small museums. While dreading being dragged to the MET and the MOMA with my grandmother annually, I have found that I enjoy small museums that showcase only a few artists. I find that smaller museums allow for a less overwhelming experience and allow the viewer investigate and examine each art piece with intention. While I love art history, I haven’t had a lot of exposure to visual arts. Painting and drawing has not been my focus although I enjoyed it when I was younger. I have been more interested in photography. From taking digital photography in middle school to having a film photography class and doing honors projects with Susan Now, I have become very involved in photography, specifically film photography. I have also enjoyed scrapbooking which I started doing during quarantine but haven’t had much time to focus on since. Using multiple medians to create images that document moments of my life has been a great pastime for me. 

For my project, I will explore six different neighborhoods. Specifically, Brighton beach (Brooklyn), Flatbush (Brooklyn), Jackson Heights (Queens), Washington Heights (Manhattan), Tompkinsville (Staten Island), and Astoria (Queens). Each of these neighborhoods are in areas where I have not ventured off to and are new to me. Additionally, after doing research I have found these neighborhoods have a lot to offer and have strong cultural backgrounds that ground them. Also, when choosing the neighborhoods I felt it was important to have a wide variety that spans the boroughs. Before going to each neighborhood, I will do research through online sources and different media on restaurants, small museums, historical sites, and spots that are significant to the nieghborhood. In addition, once I am in each neighborhood I will walk aimlessly ,trying to find my own spots that I find interesting and important to the neighborhood. While in the neighborhoods I will capture my experiences, the energy, and the locations through film photography. I will showcase these photos of the neighborhoods in  scrapbook form. I will use varied media such as drawing, cut outs, and photographs to manifest what I feel encapsulates the energy and significance of each neighborhood. Each neighborhood will be presented on two pages. For my service project, I believe that doing an act of service in each neighborhood will help me immerse myself and give back to a community that I am learning from. Service in each neighborhood might look like filling community fridges, working at soup kitchens, working in community gardens, etc.; I will discover these opportunities while I explore the neighborhoods. I will maintain a document  aside from my scrapbooking to showcase the service I did in each neighborhood as a resource for the student body. I will also participate in a few seminars. Specifically, I would like to do New Yorkers for New Yorkers and ceramics. I think that my senior project will push me to explore the things I love more and help me understand more of the city that I have not ventured into. With so much to offer in New York City, I think this will be a great opportunity for me to explore. Also, I will be able to look back on this project when I am older and share it with others who want to explore more of New York City.