Spotlight on The Barat Foundation in Newark New Jersey
I had the honor of meeting Gary and Chandri Barat in early 2000 at my Breaking Down The Walls,Reaching Youth At Risk Through The Arts Conference at Rutgers University. Gary told me about their dream to actually open an arts center in Newark and you could hear the determination and excitement in his voice and knew that this was going to be a reality.
The fact that they made this happen is a testament to their belief in the power of the arts to transform lives and communities and their power to believe in themselves. I congratulate them for everything they have accomplished and proud to call them friends.
This is their story:
In 1989 Gary Barat, co-founder with his wife, Chandri, of
the first natural foods company to go public in the US, was diagnosed with a
life-threatening, and at the time unspeakable, illness. After doing their best to continue life as if
things were normal, Chandri and Gary soon decided to quit their day jobs as
pioneers creating vegetarian tofu entrees, and use whatever time they had left
together to return to their early passions for art and education. For Chandri, this passion would bring the
family to the South of France to explore arts education, with the goal of
bringing young people including her own children abroad, to experience the
opening of mind and heart she experienced as a student in Paris. For Gary, it would be a return to fine arts
photography and his passion for seeing and documenting the unseen and
overlooked beauty in everyday life. As things turned out, Gary did not succumb
to the illness and is still alive and at work some 30 years later.
The Barat Foundation began with a summer arts, culture and
language immersion program in the South of France. With a passion for leveling the playing field
for underserved youth, The Barats opened their program to inner city youth from
Newark. To date the foundation has brought
over 60 Newark youth abroad to study art and culture along with hundreds of
students from all over the world. 100%
of these students have gone on to college.
Seeing the transformation in their students that occurred in
one month’s time, the Barats came to Newark in 2000 to bring their Creation
Nation arts education learning methodology that had been developed in France,
to the inner city of Newark to work year-round with underserved children and
youth.
These programs allow students to embark on an artistic
exploration of current topics affecting their lives, and bring those
experiences to life with the creation of collaborative community murals and
sculptural representations, the Animodules™.
The Barat Foundation Animodule™ sculptures, created by
students under the guidance of professional artists, have been named the
“Official Peace Ambassadors of Newark”, by former Newark Mayor and current NJ
Senator, Cory Booker. The Animodules™
stand proudly in schools and community organizations throughout the city, and
at the Newark Airport where they greet an estimated 500,000 visitors to the
region annually. The annual Creation
Nation Art and Peace Parade led by the Animodule™ sculptures, unites the entire
city in a celebration of the creative power of the city’s children.
watch the short video of their Annual Creation Nation Art and PEACE PARADE,given all the hatred and violence in communities today,this should be a national project.
Dedicated to the power of the arts to transform lives and
communities, the foundation‘s Creation Nation “public art by the public”
initiatives currently engage thousands of Newark and New Jersey youth, senior
citizens and community organizations in the process of artistic creation,
giving voice to the voiceless in the cultural landscape.
One Teacher's Support:
Dorie Dahlberg
Teacher of Art
Barringer Academy of
Arts and Humanities
91 Parker St. Newark
NJ 07104
I’m writing in
support of the Barat Foundation with whom my students recently completed an
Animodule for Newark Liberty International Airport. My students at Barringer
Arts & Humanities are challenged on so many levels; we have the highest
Special Education population of all Newark public high schools at 37-38%; we
have students who are living well below the poverty line; students who are
homeless. We have students who are parents themselves and students who are gang
members (and whose parents are gang
members). Every one of my students is related to or has had close friends
or acquaintances that have died in urban violence.
Their lives do not
include art experiences, like going to a museum, a sculpture garden, having art
supplies to experiment with at home. Making a connection with the Barat
Foundation has provided terrific experiences and opportunities for my students.
Doing projects of the scale of the Animodules or the Peace Mural is something a
single art teacher cannot do alone. Over the past few years, over 250 of my students have participated in
projects brought to them by the Barat Foundation. That’s just me and my
students. There have been so many more art teachers and students in Newark who
have also benefited from these artistic adventures.
Our airplane went beyond an artistic adventure, it became a
global exploration. The finished airplane-shaped Animodule would reflect extensive
research by the students, who incorporated into the design geological,
historical, and cultural symbols related to global destinations they'd like to
visit. Many of our students are from other parts of the world, so they proudly
chose symbols from their countries and cultures, in the process teaching other
students about their homelands.
When we went to the
airport to finish the piece for travelers, airport employees, and guests, I saw
my students present themselves as proud representatives of a greater community.
They put the finishing touches on their Animodule with great concentration.
They were well behaved, poised, and so pleased with what they had accomplished.
Over the next few weeks, their work was recognized by Newark Public Schools
with a banner display and mention on the main NPS website. Teachers and
administrators in the building congratulated them. Positive feedback is
something so many of these kids need so desperately.
When asked to
describe their favorite project, one of my Special Ed students wrote:
“I
feel that the plane was the best project I did this year. I feel that this is
the best project because it was fun to do with the other classmates. I felt
like I was someone famous doing an art project for someone else. I did my best
on the detailing. It also makes me feel good knowing that I did something I can
see out in public, and hearing people’s comment about my work.”
When I see these kids
really light up, I become more aware
of how fragile those moments are. I am so grateful to the Barat Foundation, for
bringing great energy here.
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