NFA Students Selected For Human Rights Art Show

By Ms. Baumann

MIDDLETOWN – SUNY Orange, the college partnered with Newburgh Free Academy P-TECH, celebrated the 75th anniversary of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” by hosting an art reception on Tuesday, December 5 in the Orange Hall Gallery at SUNY Orange.

The exhibit was sponsored by the Orange County Human Rights Commission (OCHRC), in collaboration with SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs and the Orange County Arts Council and was titled “An Artist’s Response to Human Rights.” Sixteen NFA P-TECH students submitted pieces which were selected for inclusion in the exhibit.

This exhibit offers Orange County high school students the opportunity to express their feelings about the importance of human rights in today’s world by depicting artworks and writing poems or essays about topics related to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The artworks have been created in several mediums: paintings, drawings, collages, mixed media, found objects, ceramics, and clay.

Students participating in this year’s show represent the following schools in addition to Newburgh Free Academy P-TECH: Minisink Valley High School, Washingtonville High School, Monroe-Woodbury High School, Storm King School, Cornwall Central High School, James I. O’Neill High School in Highland Falls, Pine Bush High School, Valley Central High School.

Participating artists from P-TECH include Elmer Calderon, Amani Ammon, Alex Polischuk, Ethan Candela, Xavier Moore, Karl Wilkinson, Chloe Torres-Diaz, Waleed Mohamed, Briana Alvarez, Mekhi Hines, Jack Zhingri, Markus Constancio, Ajay Johnson, Zaori Garcia, Jasmine Davila, and Pedro Marun. They worked under the guidance of P-TECH teachers Torrance Harvey and Christine Baumann.

The exhibit will be on view through January 5, 2024. Gallery hours from December 18 to 21 and January 2 to 5 are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit will be closed for holidays, December 22 to January 1.

Orange Hall is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview avenues, Middletown. For questions, email cultural@sunyorange.edu or visit the Cultural Affairs website at sunyorange.edu/culturalaffairs.