April | 2019 | Deborah and Jessica's Fourth Grade

Fourth Graders Contemplate Heroes at the Jack Shainman Gllery

Powerful women

Stuck in a frame

Colorful strokes and drips of paint

Tells a story

-Nico

Women with all different stories

from all different times and places

Colors, texture, movement, objects

and setting and all different faces

-Ziva

Joan of Arc

By Cydney Klass

Heard a voice from God she claimed,

And she fought untrained,

Joan of Arc.

Fought at nineteen

And went on to succeed,

Joan of Arc.

She forced the English to retreat,

It was quite a defeat.

Joan of Arc.

She lead the troupe,

It was a large group!

Joan of Arc.

She fought in the Hundred Years’ War,

But she might have done more,

Died at nineteen

Maybe she fulfilled her dream.

Joan of Arc.

Modern clothes

Why I don’t know

Joan of Arc.

The blood looks like fire

Because it went higher,

Joan of Arc.

She was a saint

Her image was preserved in paint.

Joan of Arc

Captured and killed,

Her life was not filled

Joan of Arc.

Long dark hair

Blew through the air,

Purple shirt, white jeans,

Black and navy blue background

Joan of Arc.

Died at nineteen

Maybe she fulfilled her dream.

Joan of Arc.

Patterns everywhere.

Where were they not?

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc barefoot in the painting on the wall

The painting did not fall.

Joan of Arc

So young

Maybe or maybe not having fun.

Joan of Arc

Hands placed at her back

Not moving

Only staying.

Joan of Arc

Two first drafts,

And one big final one

Joan of Arc.

Hair different here

Hair different there

Joan of Arc.

Different designs and patterns

So cool.

Joan of Arc.

No drips

Not that much of a background

It was dark and empty

Joan of Arc.

The One

Dante Tejerina

Lines and stripes Stripes and lines

Carlos Vega keeps drawing

The one that is the saint of the blind

Lights a bright light to show the way

The one who looks like a normal teenager

Heads to Orleans where she will soon face a brutal decay

Stripes and lines Lines and stripes

Carlos Vega keeps sketching

The one who loses the loved one

Shows all her pain

The one in the bright red dress

Will turn into a crimson mess

Stripes and lines Lines and stripes

Carlos Vega keeps painting

The one with the pink backpack

She shows her strength to keep fighting

The one who is so smart

Will be questioned for the Christian art

The one who pushes the four wheel cart

Is showing her struggle to keep thriving

Unlike Carlos Vega she keeps working

Lines and Stripes Stripes and Lines

Carlos Vega keeps going

FIERCE WOMEN

By Emilia M. Kravetz

She’s moving her hand and feeling the pain

She has an umbrella with flowers

Her name is Vilomah

She’s opening up her studio

She makes sculptures of Jesus

Her name is Luisa

She’s lugging her cart around

She’s a homeless in the world

Her name is Nakesha

She likes to take care of disabled people

She’s with a handicapped women

Her name is Berta

She has two sisters

She looks like she’s in pain

Her name is Hope

She’s a powerful New Yorker

She was born enslaved

Her name is Sojourner

FREEDOM PAINTINGS

By Emilia M. Kravetz

The paintings were as still as some plants that were growing

Some paintings made me sad weeping, leaping, crying,

Other paintings made me happy laughing, running, kind,

Free trapped free trapped

Repeating like a heartbeat

Alive paintings hero paintings he paints anything possible

Small paintings big paintings

All different sizes

Flowers

Abstract

Women

Enjoyable

Inspiring

Magical

Carlos likes his art , I like it,

It’s wonderful

Nakesha Williams

By Ivy Van Blerkom

Stripe, stripe

And back again

To the start

So much to see

What else could it be

Curvy and straight

Stripe, stripe

And back again

To the start

More and more

What else to see?

Lines

Curvy and straight

What else to see?

Bare feet

Details, details

Dark skin

Lines

Curvy and straight

All over the place

What else to see?

Metal cart

Push past, past, and beyond

NYC

On the street

What else could she be?

An activist for illness

Has a mental illness

So much more

Helps other people

Williams College where she was

Now on the streets of NYC

Didn’t quite get it right

Heroes Of The World

by Julian

Hope very sad but not bad at all,

World’s greatest heroes, together, hand and hand,

Brush strokes all around different colors together safe and sound,

An Unfinished painting is a finished painting,

Beautiful colors beautiful personalities,

All together as one

Sad people, happy people

In a painting there can be more than one,

But still altogether living as one,

All went through violence in a period of their life,

But died as heroes,

Heroes, heroes, heroes,

So many of them on one wall all down the room and across the hall.

These are the heroes of the world safe and sound,

Living together, like earth’s gods,

Living as one

Alive Paintings

By June

A paintbrush in a hand

Painting swirls and pictures

To form a work of art

Expressions

Serious, strong, meaningful

An alive painting

Brave women

Each who stood up for herself

But maybe failed

Symbolic

But unfinished

An alive painting

Brushstrokes

In different patterns

Forming together

Colors

Swirling like rainbows all around

An alive painting

Carlos Vega

Painting a wonder world

An alive painting

In motion

Feet staying in one place

Never going anywhere

Maybe

A spark of curiosity

Will appear

Impossible

by Lila

On artwork so fine a drip of paint is divine

Many different colors waiting for another watching to see what comes next

IMPOSSIBLE

Many women that are hero on the wall looking at each other seeing that each drip of paint is divine

IMPOSSIBLE

But when I look to the ground I see all the hero’s sitting around get up heros and go walk and talk you heroes deserved more to being shot,

You have done so much to help make this a better place like being an activist or an artist in hard states

IMPOSSIBLE

Your paintings have you and your background too it’s almost like you could come out and keep going on with your heroic ways,

IMPOSSIBLE

Or even end to say….

NOT IMPOSSIBLE

All Around Paintings

By Lily Rosenthal

All around paintings, Paintings all around,

All the paintings clear as can be, but with brush strokes different, brush strokes different,

Which one first, which one

Pick and choose, pick and chose,

write and look, write and look,

Look close but do not touch,

Draw and study, draw and study,

More more o- my o- my,

Look at the little man with the mohawk, the man is small

Look at her hands, Nuwa’s hand is big,

In front of the rainbow wall that she created,

Hold the man, hold the man,

In the hoop,

Do not fall, do not,

Study him close, study him close,

Look around, look around

At all the figures in the paintings and how they are in motion,

And how they are better in person,

All around paintings, all around.

Powerful Women

By Nico

Powerful women

Stuck in a frame

Colorful strokes and drips of paint

Tells a story

From now or then

They look in your eyes

With sad with happy

Smiles or frowns

Powerful women

They were brave.

And still are now

Just normal people like you

Who change people’s perspective

Powerful women

They stood up

And made a mark

In Carlos Vega’s heart

Powerful women

Dancing in a frame

And their minds screaming out their name.

The Stripes

By Paloma

Walk into the door,

All the paintings on the walls,

And so many!

One Paloma,

Two rooms,

And so many paintings

To choose

One was Malala,

A backpack,

And

A cart

A cart that’s blue, against the many colors

Her expression was

Mixed

A combo of happy and sad

The stripes all over,

The many colors,

The small brush,

Everything separate, yet together

Pink scarf

Like pink hair

Green pants

Pink backpack

Blue cart

The backpack

It shows

School

It shows what Malala did

Wandering Through Color

By Penelope Schab

Walking into a green glass door that leads you into a new world full of color,

wandering through paintings that come alive as soon as you look,

Fighting for what they think is right,

They look alive!

So colorful,

All about famous women,

All about their history,

About to burst with color,

Doing their own thing,

Their own story,

So colorful,

But still colorful,

There shape is as they are in the moment that second,

Some are about to finish the job,

Yet some are just started,

So colorful,

Their eyes reaching for something,

That you have,

Saying I want it I want it,

So colorful,

but still bright and colorful in their own way,

About to burst with color…

BURST! go on BURST!

Shown Paintings

By Sawyer Gersh

2 rooms,

White walls,

Lots of symbols,

12 had objects,

All about women,

One huge one small,

Makes two drawings,

5 had no objects in hand,

Carlos Vega used stripes,

Little details about old life,

Most sad people in paintings,

At least one painting each side,

Made 17 hero women drawings,

Some saints some regular people,

In most paintings there were drips,

16 paintings had the color blue,

One painting looked unfinished to me,

The women almost filled the painting,

They are as big as a Giant,

One painting starts with a h,

And ends with an e,

And op in the middle,

Did great things but,

No respect in life time

Paintings

By Selah

All the artwork

All the scenes

Very delightful as I seem

Paintings

Lots of colors

Lots of lights

Lots of things I see with my eyes

Paintings

So many objects

So many symbols

Too many brush strokes

Dry drips too

Paintings

Some unfinished

Some Done

All good

Some patterned

Some not

Paintings

Too many things for my eyes

Can it stop

Paintings

Tons of emotions

Tons of feelings

My head is too weary

I feel too dizzy

Paintings

Some figures static

Some in motion

Paintings

Carlos Vega: Correspondences

Shaffer Helfer

Today, today, today.

We went walking to the subway.

The train was bumpy, and went pop, pop, pop,

And then we got off on the second stop.

We went to a gallery where the ceilings were tall,

The art was big, I was scared they would fall.

Carlos Vega, the artist, did a lot of art

And I’m pretty sure he is very smart.

His topic for the show

was strong women in the know,

Yo.

The background of them were very pink

And none of them used ink.

He used a lot of colors in the paintings in his show.

His topic was strong women in the know.

And I could see some still sink

And the place did not stink

And I forgot the link.

His topic in the show was people in the know.

Observing Painting of Hypatia

By Skylar

Looking at the painting

Noticing the painting

Feeling the vibes of the

painting

Feeling like I’m in the

painting

Like the painting is looking

Back at me

Like the painting is

Talking to me to

The colors of the painting

Shine like sparkling

water

The sea

The colors of the painting

Are like a rainbow is

coming

The expression on her

Face is more serious

Than a soul diving

In the deep blue sea

Her fascination in math

Is like me in a way

I am interested in

Math myself

Just a bit

Balance On

Nuwa

Part One

By Vincent Fernandes-Vogel

Thinks a thought,

Repair was made;

Through the limestones,

through the jade.

Made repair,

Repair was made,

Through the limestones,

Through the jade.

Balance on, in the hoop,

Hoop of loop,

Loop of hoop.

The wall was built to keep the sides apart,

Apart will keep the sides.

A rainbow wall,

Up in the sky,

The rainbow wall.

The time has come,

Jade of shade,

Leave behind,

Jade of shade.

Balance On

Part Two

Splish and splash,

Splash and splish,

Swish, swish, swish.

Paint as you wish,

More no more,

No more, more.

Painting heroes,

More and more.

Saints for a start,

The rest left for last.

Hidden decoding,

Decoding that’s hidden.

Discover the secret,

Hidden the secret,

The secret is hidden.

Paint on,

Carlos Vega.

Hope

By Will Taschler

Reds, blues, pinks, whites, blacks, yellows

The woman has a candle on a bigger plate

That represents her

Hope

She is being dramatic, her hand is behind her head

Like a waitress

she is carrying a bigger plate

Why is she putting her hand behind her head?
Why is she holding the tray?

Why is she wearing a long red shirt?

She looks like she is from the past

But her red dress looks like a modern dress

She could be going to a party or a fancy restaurant

Her expression is a frown

She is looking up at the sky

Like she is feeling hopeless

She is barefoot

Where do you think she is going?

Possibly to an outside party so her feet could feel the soft grass

She wears a flower crown around her head

That has patterns of blue, green and orange

Her red dress is as long as her

I look at the painting

It looks unfinished

With a black background and nothing else

The Amazing Sojourner Truth

By Zara Seegars

The amazing Sojourner Truth

Survived Slavery. The amazing

Sojourner Truth escaped slavery

with and alive newborn child.

The amazing Sojourner Truth

said an important statement.

The amazing Sojourner Truth

Stated “Ain’t I a woman?”

The amazing Sojourner Truth

Fought for women’s right to vote

And changed the law.

The Amazing Sojourner Truth was

an abolitionist.

The Tales of Women

By Ziva DeMattia

Each person, each story

All with their own unique glory