Sapling

Murals and Dance, Day 5 The kids showed up today and found a film crew from A&E Networks already set up to capture their every inspired moment. Yep, A&E was producing an “Everyday Heroes” feature on Harlem Hub founder Maurice Winley, and decided to film our Arts Academy to show the world the great impacts…

Media and Music, Day 4 Today we got into the thick of things with Media instructor Ms. Christine asking us what our favorite shows are. We talked about how great shows tell great stories, and how directors and producers imagine the stories on storyboards before filming begins. Similarly, our goal for the day was to…

Murals and Dance, Day 3 This morning started with dance class, and Flexx again got our blood pumping. He reiterated his three rules to show respect for all, and changed the pace by asking us about our lives and listening to our stories. He dropped some facts about his own as well, especially how he was…

Media and Dance, Day 2 This morning, Christine guided our media class and we brainstormed more ideas for the music video. She started with general icebreaker questions so that everyone could connect to each other. We watched different music videos for inspiration, including one she produced for Thrive Collective of their “Campeones” mural in Tijuana…

Media and Murals, Day 1 Today is our very first day at the Harlem Hub Summer Arts Academy, and I’m very, very excited! We started off in the media classroom to hear a sneak preview of “Turn Up the Value,” the song we’ll finish writing over the next week. Then we began imagining an upcoming…

I’m Valerie Freedom, author of The Sapling. My story begins in the Lower East Side as a teeny, tiny seed blowing on the wind and landing comfortably in a schoolyard at Franklin Delano Roosevelt School. Over time, children at the school painted Dream Walls, I Am Loisaida, and Dream Walls 2.0, expressing their creativity in the…