On sunny Saturday, May 26th, artREACH members gathered for a delicious breakfast and screening of Spike Lee’s film Crooklyn.  This special event to celebrate the advent of summer was for artREACH members, their families, and school and agency staff. The guests were from transitional living centers, emergency shelters, youth recreation programs, health services, the Santa Fe Public Schools, and VSA North Forth Theater, an Albuquerque arts organization for people with disabilities. Most of the forty guests visited CCA for the first time, and many of them had never heard of CCA before they were invited to join artREACH. 
           After a patio breakfast of  pastries, fruit, and burritos, the guests settled in the Cinemathèque to watch Crooklyn. On the screen, kids plunged into a paradise of street games popular in Spike Lee’s 1970s Brooklyn, NY. The film stars ten-year-old Troy, the  sassiest sage on the block. Harassed by her four rowdy brothers and depended upon by her overworked mother, Troy grows up fast.  In a world of food stamps, glue-sniffers, and Vietnam vets, humor and family love teach Troy to accept and finesse life’s twists and turns. Laughs and murmurs from the audience confirmed the power of Crooklyn; while Troy’s neighborhood may differ from audience members’ own communities, her struggle as a child meandering the maze into adulthood is relatable to all. 

artREACH provides free tickets and scholarships to people served by participating human and social service agencies, students attending Title I  public schools, and residents from Northern New Mexico Pueblos.  For a list of artREACH member agencies and schools, visit http://ccasantafe.org/cca_artreach.htm.  To reserve free tickets, to request a scholarship for a Digital Media class, or for more information, contact Sophie: 982-1338 ext. 12, or sophie@ccasantafe.org

Girls Inc. Group Gave New Meaning to Wrekage Exhibit

This January, a group of Girls Inc. participants visited the Center for Contemporary Arts through CCA’s free access artREACH program.  The group of twelve eleven to thirteen year-olds toured the exhibit Wrekage by the artist team Keep Adding.   Guided by CCA artREACH Coordinator Sophie Perry, the thoughtful young women discussed the meaning of art and where art belongs.  The Girls Inc. participants also offered their interpretations of Wrekage.  One young woman said the richly-painted installation looked  like “a beloved house that caught fire.”  Another young woman suggested it was “heart muscle.”

For more information about Girls Inc., visit www.girlsinc.org.

Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club Snap Away at CCA

On March 9th, CCA welcomed a group of young photographers from the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club.  The CCA newcomers took pictures of the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new Muñoz Waxman Gallery and viewed the exhibit Feast & Flux.  Excited by Colette Hosmer’s sculptural representations of animals seen in rural Chinese markets, one of the young visitors stated that she appreciates when art galleries “show animal artwork.” 

For more information about the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club, visit www.bgca.org.