by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
After the Sulzbacher Center asked the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens to participate in the center’s Holiday Card Program, the partnership between the two organizations grew even larger, and in a very short period of time.
“This new partnership is a very fruitious one and a very happy one,” said Maarten van de Guchte, director of the Cummer Museum.
The Cummer Museum and the Sulzbacher Center continued to explore other ways the two organizations could expand their partnership. A new exhibit on display at the Cummer Museum, “Art in the House: Collected works from children at The Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless” was one result of those discussions. This exhibit exposed the children of the Sulzbacher Center to arts education and expression.
“We hope this is the first step in a long relationship,” said van de Guchte.
“Art in the House” will be on display in the museum’s Art Connections through Feb. 24.
“We are exposing the children to art and it hopefully brings color to their lives,” said van de Guchte. “We were given the opportunity to reach out and extend a helping hand.”
Audrey Moran, executive director of the Sulzbacher Center, said she and her staff are very grateful for this partnership.
“This is the most wonderful holiday gift,” she said. “The fact that the Cummer Museum cares so much about children that they offered them a way to express themselves like they have never been able to is great.
“It shows that the Cummer Museum is a real community trustee and our poorest neighbors have a place here.”
For the past six weeks, Christina Hunady, public programming manager for the Cummer Museum and “Art in the House” program manager, held nine workshops for 26 children ages 3-23. She said they spent about 16 hours making all of the art for the exhibit. Overall, there is a collection of 70 multi-media works on exhibit.
“The program was centered around dreams and storytelling,” said Hunady. “We went thought exercises to help bring out their dreams. We then moved from dreams into storytelling.”
Hunady ran into some challenges simply because she had to explain each workshop to very young children as well as young adults. As they moved through each workshop, Hunady also introduced different types of art to them. She said they created paintings, prints, collages, ceramic sculptures and wire sculptures.
Another challenge she had to overcome was to find a way to provide “a tiny layer of trust.”
“They all have a different story and in an effort to get to the core elements, we sat around this canvas and I had them each sign their names with stamp letters,” she said. “It was to help them step into a moment of escape.”
She said the children all said the experience was powerful.
“Power of partnership — it is a wonderful component,” said Hunady.
The children had the opportunity to attend the “Art in the House” reception Tuesday night and see their hard work hanging on the walls of the Cummer Museum.
“When I asked how many of them have been to a museum, one out of twelve raised their hand,” she said.
Hunady also asked what they thought an art museum looked like and they answered with, “big long hallways and tall ceilings.”
“I think they are going to be amazed,” she said. “I think it is going to be a very memorable day for them.
“It is an opportunity for them to celebrate.”
Moran added that many of the children at the Sulzbacher Center can feel like they are invisible or less than a person.
“This art work they created gives them a lot of self worth, pride and dignity,” she said. “They no longer feel invisible. It’s priceless.”