I loved using oil pastels to mix colors for my Self-Portrait. It was really nice to look at my hair in the mirror to see all the colors. I realized that my hair was actually different shades of dark brown. I was very pleased. The process of making my self-portrait made me think that you can look at yourself through a mirror and still know you're handsome / beautiful in any way possible. I hope that people can realize how unique they are.

My favorite part is how colors match. For example, how the red is over the red and that the red blends and that the red blends with the orange. It makes an interesting color where they blend. I want people to think that they can also draw things that they are interested in in their artwork. I drew dragons because I like how they can fly and make interesting shapes in the sky. I also used lots of bright colors and I want others to use lots of bright colors too.

My favorite part of my painting are the 3 lines and the dot in the middle because I like straight lines. The curly whirly line is cool because it has little bumps in it. I liked using watercolors because you could mix colors and use primary colors. I want people to think that it's really colorful and that it has lots of different lines. I want people think that there are lots of different shapes and lines around you in the real world.

My favorite part of this piece of art is that because it was a blind contour, it forced me to really look and think about how I see myself. My piece of art also shows how someone can be perfectly imperfect. When people look at my piece, I want them to feel happy with themselves and how they look because something can be imperfect but still beautiful. I hope people feel inspired by my artwork.

I love the bridge I created. Cars are able to go on the bridge and enter into my town. I also love how I made the windy light blue sky. I want people to feel happy and inspired to make their own town with recycled materials.

District 1 strongly believes that art education is fundamental for every students’ success. Art is a universal language that all students have access to without barriers. Art plays a critical role in our society as we embrace and celebrate diversity.

Carry Chan

District 1 Community Superintendent

I decided to have my self-portrait be a "Birds of Prey", funhouse themed artwork. I made this decision because I am inspired by the character Harley Quinn. The reason this character inspires me is because I like how flawed she is and how she doesn't care what other people think. I think the best way to show the meaning is by making myself into a clown because clowns are seen as "extra", outspoken, make people laugh, but can be feeling different things on the inside.

The arts are the universal language by which the human species has communicated through the test of time. It is through the arts that students gain a better understanding of their world; thereby, becoming globally and culturally literate. As school leaders, teachers, and parents of District 4 work together to enhance our schools’ art programs they propel students to become flexible thinkers, problem solvers, develop the ability to learn new skills, enrich their creativity and innovative side and to always strive for excellence.

Alexandra Estrella

District 4 Community Superintendent

The message we are trying to convey is that we worked hard. We worked well as a group. We used a lot of shading to really show the scary look of the clown because we wanted to show that in our work. The piece really shows all our hard work and effort because we wanted it to look as close to the reference photo as possible.

In my piece I am trying to convey the magical winter feeling in New York City. The sky is filled with snow and the lights are shining. I drew an ice skating rink because the joyous feeling of being with your friends and laughing uncontrollably while skating with the snow falling is so amazing. It’s a feeling I would capture in a snowglobe because I never want to forget it. It’s also like the fantasy winter scene you would see in a snowglobe come true. I wanted people to celebrate the beauty of New York in winter.

I was trying to paint a self-portrait. This is something that is very difficult and I have had limited experience in art. I wanted to show myself as I am, and represent someone from my community in Harlem. I showed myself as I am with my eyes closed. I also showed my Do-Rag, but I hyped up the color to a hot red-orange.

The reference used for this piece was a picture I had taken of a small store in Noakhali, a district in South-eastern Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, especially the village side, everyone knows everyone. When you cross paths, you either greet each other with one or two words or a long conversation turns into an invitation to eat at each other's houses. Stores in Noakhali are a perfect representation of just how intimate and comfortable Bangladesh feels. You see everything unfold in front of you and if by chance you don't recognize the person working, by the end of the visit it feels as if they were your long lost uncle or aunt or cousin. In New York, the city can feel very desolate at times even though it's bustling with people, and revisiting my home in Bangladesh and capturing just a small part of it gives me comfort.

Arts in education is always a heated debate specifically regarding the funding required to support a successful arts program. It is a core belief that academic achievement, positive social development, habits of mind, and inclinations of thought are a combination of solid academics and fundamental arts. District 6 is in a powerful movement to engage students in community service, academic achievement, raise SAT scores, raise verbal communication of all of our students especially our English Language Learners. Students who are not only exposed but participate in arts are more inclined to do all of the above.

Manuel Ramirez

District 6 Community Superintendent

In this piece my goal was to convey my knowledge of shading and value to create a more realistic drawing. Using charcoal I layered up the values and blended. I really wanted my blending skills to show in this piece. I also wanted the location of my light sources to be clear to the viewer. I found working with charcoal was difficult, it is delicate. I started with a white base adding in the dark values to show the shadows and curves of the hands. Charcoal smudges happened often so I had to plan around that. I think the hands came out really well. They look realistic and have many values, as that was my goal.