It's Unanimous: #BringArtBack
Officials
Parents
Artists
Students
Principals
“Projects like this turn good schools into great schools and good kids into great students.”
This will be the view for every student attending HSTAT in Bayridge from now on. The mural was the biggest project I’ve ever had the opportunity to complete in my art education career. This visual representation and symbolism was created by all of my classes collaboratively. Welcome, diversity, community, and plenty of persistence. I feel nothing but joy and accomplishment. My principal and I closed our eyes and walked in through the student entrance to really get the full experience of the visual embrace of color and welcome.
“Parents come back to me and they thank me. The say, ‘This has been like therapy for me.’ And for children, it’s building vocabulary, sharing, working with others, and being a part of something successful.”
“Projects like this give students the confidence to see themselves as positive change agents in their homes, neighborhoods, and classrooms. When students embrace their own capacity to create lasting and beautiful change, public schools and their surrounding communities thrive.”
“Good things can and do happen in schools. In a time when the arts and arts education are being threatened, PS 102 is demonstrating how important they are not only to our students while they’re here with us, but also to everyone in our community as they continue through their lives. Projects like this turn good schools into great schools and good kids into great students.”
“Thrive Collective exemplifies what can be accomplished when caring individuals team up to leverage their energy, creativity and expertise to positively impact the educational process. By promoting and encouraging community and school partnerships, Thrive assists educators with building a solid foundation for success. As trailblazers in their unique design of mobilizing students and community stakeholders through creative arts projects, Thrive gives true meaning to the African Proverb, ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child.”
Public Officials
“This mural will stand as a reminder of what’s possible!”
“Why do we tolerate a world where children born with God’s genius are going to schools that are not nurturing that genius and manifesting the divine within them? You’ve answered a call to do more, to act more.”
“By uniting students, parents, artists, and community stakeholders through arts education and mentoring programs in low income neighborhoods, Thrive Collective is empowering the next generation to rise and fostering a more equitable tomorrow. I commend its efforts as my administration works to provide all New Yorkers with opportunities to participate fully in the cultural life of our city.”
“These students instill life and vitality into our neighborhood every single day. This mural will stand as a reminder of what is possible when communities and schools come together with students for sustainable change. I am proud to support projects that nurture a vision of community engagement at this age, and propel children into lifetimes of service and leadership.”
“This mural reflects the resilience and the energy and the willingness of the people on Coney Island to get back up … after being knocked down to the ground.”
“School Murals provides children an interactive way of learning, not just the academics, but how to work together, to acquire social skills, to be able to strategize. It’s very important to have groups like Thrive Collective partner with schools, because the Board of Education cannot do it alone.”
Partners
“Helping them be more human.”
“When you can get the community engaged in a local school, when you can get people who don’t necessarily have their kids in the local school to be a part of it, it begins to change people’s attitudes towards their neighborhood.”
– Kevin Palau, President of the Luis Palau Association
“Inter-generational collaborations foster a long-term view of community building that values the unique contributions every generation can offer. We are delighted to house this mural as a lasting symbol of hospitality and goodwill”
– George Jensen, Board Chair of the Norwegian Christian Home
“When we’re involved in our communities and we’re helping people be the best that they can be, when we’re tapping into the visual and creative arts and getting their imaginations going, we are helping them be more human.”
– Mark Matlock, President of Youth Specialties
“This is the kind of project that both builds confidence in students and helps them to see how their gifts and talents can be given back to make meaningful contributions to their community.”
– Paul Curtis, Storefront Art Center and Crossroad Christian Church
Interns
“An Opportunity to Make a Difference.”
Within the first few days, I found myself traveling across all five boroughs, gaining a passion and love for the city I had never experienced before during my four years at NYU. I learned skills I never thought I would be able to do: from writing grant proposals, to contacting city councilmen, to helping teach mural classes in the Bronx. Jeremy’s encouragement and training paired with my activities as an intern gave me practical opportunities to put what I was learning about into practice.
One of my favorite experiences since moving to New York was painting murals as a Thrive Intern.
Being a Thrive Intern gave me the opportunity that I was looking for. The most rewarding part for me was the opportunity to focus and empower high school and middle school students for life success.
This internship was so much more than ‘busywork.’ It was an opportunity to make a difference within public city schools.
Working together as a team allowed us to utilize our strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. It was also encouraging to know that my input was heard in each project.