Long Wharf Theatre, in conjunction with its production of No Child ... , running on Stage II from March 17 through April 18, will host a display of forthright self-portraits from local middle and elementary school children.
Hamden Middle School and Davis Street School will participate in the Stage II lobby exhibit. Fifty students from each school will display 10" x 10" self-portraits in the medium of their choosing, mounted on black tiles donated by Hull's Art Supply and Framing in New Haven. Lou Cox, owner of Channel 1, a skate shop and gallery on State Street in New Haven, connected the theatre with the schools and served as community leader in the project.
There is an unabashed vibrancy to the children's work, a glimpse of the color and perspective they see in themselves and the world around them. The younger students' portraits swim in a sea of colors, the images almost willfully abstract, perhaps the manifestation of young minds changing and growing in the world. The middle school students' portraits ring a bit truer to life, for example, emphasizing the vibrant green of a girl's eyes or the faux-macho pose of a boy rapidly growing into a man.
"I've always thought that art allows us to see ourselves in unexpected ways. What's exciting about this exhibit of self-portraits by local public school students is that Long Wharf Theatre audiences will get to see these children through their own eyes, unexpectedly," said Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting.
No Child ... recounts teaching artist Nilaja Sun's experience at the fictional Malcolm X High in the Bronx, leading a group of tenth graders through the production of a play. In the face of an ambivalent student body, a constant stream of new teachers, and impending Regents exams, Nilaja struggles to bring her project to life. No one - teacher, student, janitor, principal or security guard - is left behind by Sun's hilarious and heartbreaking expose, based on her own experience as a teaching artist in New York City.
No Child ... is sponsored by Bank of America, Southern Connecticut State University and Carlton Highsmith.
For more information about No Child ..., or to buy tickets, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.
