The Museum of Arts & Culture will showcase the work of New Rochelle High School alumni artists as part of ArtsFest next weekend, September 22nd and 23rd. Created by 2009 graduates Jesus Baez and Rebecca Mills, the show, titled “Concept Cube,” was designed to show off the skills of the New Rochelle High School art alumni while also highlighting the strength of the school’s visual arts program. The exhibit features works in a variety of media including painting, photography, sculpture and video. The MAC will be open Thursday night, September 20th as part of the ArtsFest preview, and again on Saturday, September 22nd from 12:30 to 5 pm. ArtsFest, organized by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts, is a weekend-long celebration featuring free art exhibits and performances at 32 venues in New Rochelle and Pelham; for a complete calendar of ArtsFest events visit www.newrochellearts.org.
Co-curator Jesus Baez says the inspiration for this exhibit was the desire to “showcase how New Rochelle High school has greatly influenced artists who attend the school, and how far they have come in their journey after high school. Constantly hearing that there are budget cuts for the art programs, we decided to show how much art makes a huge impact in all our lives.” Baez and Mills solicited participation through an email blast and Facebook, and were pleasantly surprised both at the size and the promptness of the response: “It just demonstrated how passionate they are,”says Baez.
Mr. Baez is currently signed with Tearsheet Education and is also a freelance graphics designer and fashion photographer. Ms. Mills works for the Pelham Art Center as the weekend assistant and is a feminist illustrator. Baez and Mills are currently collaborating on numerous projects and “aspire to arouse an art movement in New Rochelle adopting young underground artists.”
The Museum of Arts & Culture, located in the new wing of New Rochelle High School, is a program of the New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence, a non-profit organization that supports educational enrichment programs in all of the New Rochelle public schools. For more information, please visit www.dbmac.org or call 914-576-4657.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1. Co-Curators of Concept Cube are Becky Mills and Jesus Baez.
2. Fly Low, a mixed media work by Charles Prioleau, is part of Concept Cube, an exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Culture.
3. Beauty, a photograph by Jesus Baez, is featured in Concept Cube, an exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Culture.
4. This painting by Julian Rapp is part of the exhibit Concept Cube at the Museum of Arts & Culture.
