The Bronx Museum

Selections from Teen Summer

This online exhibit presents art created and curated in the 2020 Teen Summer program at The Bronx Museum of the Arts in July-August 2020. Throughout the four weeks of this paid intensive program, two cohorts of 12 teens discussed art, the role of museums in New York City, and their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, and participated in virtual studio sessions during which these pieces were created.

The exhibition is organized in four sections.

Aug 20 - Oct 1, 2020
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    • Jada Arroyo, Student Side, 2020, A digital collage This piece was to express the major stresses put on students due to school work.
    • Alvar Acuña, Life in quarantine, 2020, Google Slides This collage is to represent what has happened since the beginning of March within our society and what I did with my time to kill time.
    • Samiha Ahmed, Hamish Ascot, 2020, Magazine on Paper This artwork displays perspectives, or rather a choice of perspectives within our society; On one hand, there is a devastated woman with her world in flames, and on the other, a blind-folded man in a safe bubble, ignorantly choosing to only stare out into an arrangement of flowers, much like the minor antagonist, Hamish Ascot, in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
    • Sachet Broadnax, Untitled, 2020
    • Esther Eboh, What Orwell Wrote, 2020, Collage on Bristol This artwork is about the idea that seeing is believing, referencing the quintessential phrase “Nothing is everything and everything is nothing” from George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian novel.
    • Olivia Cruz, Outside Inside, 2020, Digital Photo Collage A family just moved into yet another homeless shelter after waiting hours for a home to be available to them, the mentality of how unnormal their living situation is still lingers in their minds.
    • Manuela Frias, What We Don’t See, 2020, Digital Collage This artwork is about the things that the media focuses on and the things they ignore.
    • Faeid Hassan, Life Under the Pandemic, 2020, Photography and Collage A visual depiction of what my life has shrunk to and how I am slowly losing touch with the outer world. Regardless, it is so difficult to resist myself from exploring the small world that I am in right now.
    • Orion Montalvo, Depression: A Collage Piece, 2020, Adobe Photoshop In this piece, I tried to add as much as I could think of when it came to the subject matter of depression, such as how one’s point of view in the world could be flipped, and the materials on the table that could be related to things that people often associate with depression.
      • Samuel Rosa, El florecer después de noche, 2020, Gouache, acrylic, micron pen on bristol I wanted this piece to be centered around spiritually and the presence of nature, which is used by showing the face of a person.
      • Samirria Broadnax, Your butterfly effect, 2020, Gouache on bristol A person's face is near the middle with their eyes closed. The background shows different paths that could be taken. This piece represents how anyone of any color has to go down a path and deal with the things that come with it.
      • Daniel Carroll, Disillusioned 92 Buffalo Soldiers, 2020 A painting focusing on the disregarded history of Black soldiers in World War 2. This piece draws allusions to white-centered patriotism, the proliferation of Jim Crow restrictions, and how the GI bill neglected African American soldiers.
      • Jacob Ceras, woah, even death can daydream, 2020 This painting is supposed to be a bit lighthearted, yet morbid at the same time, simply saying that if death can daydream, what's stopping you from letting out your creative prowess?
      • Zuley Dominguez, Anatomy of the Selfs, 2020, Acrylic on Bristol This artwork is meant to portray a struggle of the mind and self-acceptance, as who you are on the inside (the raw side of you represented through the use of the red hues) tries to take over by clashing with the outside or the front that you put up to hide the turmoil and emotions (the front that is seen by the public).
      • Esther Eboh, Ajna ca Muladhara, 2020, Gouache on Bristol This artwork is about the connection between intuition (ajna = the sanskrit word for the third eye chakra) and what it means to ground oneself to find stability (muladhara = the sanskrit word for the root chakra).
      • Manuela Frias, Higher Education in Debt, 2020, Gouache on Bristol This artwork is meant to highlight the student debt crisis we are facing in America, and the various “Monopolies” taking advantage of highschool students interested in higher education.
      • Aida Garcia, Untitled, 2020
      • Faeid Hassan, Above and Beyond, 2020, Gouache, Watercolor and Colored Pencils on Paper Pushing through, showing resilience and going beyond the finish line to embrace what the journey has in store.
      • Aurora Hidalgo, Life does not end when we die, 2020, Gouache on Bristol A sly reference to the tarot card, death, “Life does not end when we die” displays the closeness between life and death.
      • Michael Hu, The City of Dreams, 2020, Gouache and marker on Bristol paper This piece explores the idea of transformation in the context of NYC and the aspiration to achieve the American Dream.
      • Veronica Johnson, Soap Baby, 2020
      • Aylin Reyes, Abstruse, 2020, Gouache on Bristol This artwork is about showing some emotions by using certain colors and shapes, at the same time illustrating a human skull.
      • Kaitlin Russo, Moment of Clarity, 2020, Gouache on Bristol This piece represents achieving clarity out of confusion.
      • Oriane Sow, The New Normal, 2020, Acrylic on canvas This artwork is about showing the irony of what Times Square has turned to due to a pandemic.
      • Oriane Sow, Rebirth, 2020, Acrylic on canvas This work is about transformation.
      • Onuorah Ugochuku, Beauty and the Ugly, 2020 My main theme was around creating a representation of what people find to be beautiful and ugly or unattractive and how america’s standards for beauty have harmed so many people of all genders to the point where our society has damaged our relationships and our perspective in terms of what we ourselves should consider beautiful.
        • Alvar Acuña, Las plantas y mi vida, 2020, iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera (Photograph) This picture is intended to demonstrate how plants are constantly a part of my life and in my home and how I have a passion for soccer and video games.
        • Jada Arroyo, Teacher Side, 2020, Photograph (via phone) This piece was to express the same levels of stress that student faces are also what teachers themselves face due to school work.
        • Gladys Appiah, Ascendancy (1/2), 2020, Photograph This artwork is centered around feelings of triumph in juxtaposed scenarios.The image displaying newspaper and various objects signifies the chaos and the image featuring my shadow depicts almost a calm after the storm.
        • Gladys Appiah, Ascendancy (2/2), 2020, Photograph This artwork is centered around feelings of triumph in juxtaposed scenarios.The image displaying newspaper and various objects signifies the chaos and the image featuring my shadow depicts almost a calm after the storm.
        • Jacob Ceras, Enveloped by fear, Reach for the light, 2020, When you feel as if your back is pressed up against a wall, or your subconscious is drowned out by your insecurities to the point where you can't think straight, you have to find the strength within yourself to push through it. If you can't, and all hope is lost, don't be afraid to reach for the light. Besides, when surrounded by darkness, the light is all you can see.
        • Lucy Elena Sanchez Cruz, Life, 2020 In this portrait, a student is portrayed looking outside her window during a stressful day of online school. The overwhelming emotions of being trapped during a pandemic both physically and metaphorically may make it seem as if the world is closing in on one’s self. Despite the plants and the student being the only two living organisms present in the image, they both live very contrasting lives from one another while still having in common the idea of feeling and being trapped.
        • Zuley Dominguez, Ancestral Roots, 2020, Camera This artwork is about my experience in reaching out for information about my roots and “Latinidad” during the time of COVID-19, through connecting with my mother more.
        • Aurora Hidalgo, Sanguine Apparition, 2020, Photograph Self portrait that conveys the incomplete self. The figure is clear yet unidentifiable. She embodies the version of oneself that’s been forced into the shadows, but despite being the one behind the veil, she is not the one trapped.
        • Onuorah Ugochukwu, Intimidation, 2020 Personally i wanted to find a way to convey a sense of emotion in this photograph and show a feeling that you should be cautious around this person and how unpredictable people can be. Whether this person is feeling angry, bitter, depressed, alone, sad, it can be all those things but none of those things too.
          • Samiha Ahmed, Handle With Care, 2020, Photoshop This artwork aims to recognize the widespread practice of classifying in a society, which more often than not targets women, and ends up validating common patronizing stereotypes.
          • Gladys Appiah, Environmental Identity, 2020, Photo Collage on Digital This artwork is representative of the divide between perception and reality of identity. The figure and environment are morphed together to exhibit a muddled sense of identity and how one's environment is often mistaken as the sole indicator of who they are.
          • Sachet Broadnax, Untitled, 2020
          • Daniel Carroll, Tank, 2020m Digital Text piece This piece is meant to express the psychological conundrum associated with the diagnosis of depression, specifically how people affected with depression are blinded by their inner demons, with negative thoughts, and fail to see the over encompassing positivity around them.
          • Lucy Elena Sanchez Cruz, Me, 2020 This collage depicts the journey of discovering one’s identity and learning how to love and accept ourselves. The vibrant, and pastel colors along with the black calligraphy and the variety of different fonts depict the idea of learning how to love yourself will be different and unique along the way, with lots of positive outcomes and struggles to occur, a constant trial and error path along the way. Each person’s path and the roads they take will be different. This is my journey.
          • Aida Garcia, Untitled, 2020
          • Olivia Cruz, Homeless Facts from the General Public, 2020 A paragraph long text of misconceptions regular citizens have on homeless people written in big bold letters to emphasize that these myths are taken over to be believed true by a lot of people-- I hear of these myths often, tempted to debunk everyone’s words.
          • Michael Hu, Subway Sign, 2020, Colored pencil on paper A sign from the popular restaurant franchise and the MTA to warmly remind all the need to practice proper anti-pandemic social etiquette
          • Veronica Johnson, Overwhelmed, 2020
          • Orion Montalvo, Watch Your Words, 2020, Adobe Photoshop This piece was meant to reinforce that you never know what someone has going in their day to day life, and how important it is to watch your words very carefully.
          • Kaitlin Russo, Think a Happy Thought, 2020, Markers and pen on Bristol This piece represents feeling overwhelmed, but also the words people use to center themselves when suffering with anxiety.
          • Samuel Rosa, Lungs Collapsing, 2020, Watercolor, micron pen on bristol This artwork was meant to encompass the more negative thoughts and feelings that come with being a transgender person, it brings up how I feel perceived by others and the colors I think about when going through this.
          • Samirria Broadnax, Stop then move be sad then happy, 2020, Digital on Google slides There's two drawings that were made of different materials but still the same person. The text in the middle deepens the idea of how two things can be generally different but still the same.
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