“Salad Days – High School Art” will be on view in Gallery 1 and Gallery 2 at Haven Arts between May 13th and May 24th, 2008. Featured are paintings, drawings, sculpture, digital prints, and installation art by students at six New York area schools/art organizations. Works by their teachers will also be displayed.

The schools/groups represented are:

• Bronx High School of the Visual Arts (George York, Principal; Joel Key, Art Teacher)
• Brooklyn High School of the Arts (Robert Finley III, Principal; Jill Levine, Art Teacher; Lara Hill, Art Teacher; John Scandone, Music Director)
• Irvington High School (Diana Schmertz, Art Teacher)
• Millennium Arts Academy (Maxine Nodel, Founder and Principal; Sandra Forrest, Art Teacher)
• DreamYard’s “What is Art?” Program (Carla Repice, Teaching Artist; Khalid Hill, Afterschool Coordinator)

…and representing the future generation of high school students,

• IS 229 (Gilbert Fletcher, Art Teacher; Effie Serlis, Art Teacher)

Because of its dual meaning, the title “Salad Days” evokes the relative enthusiasm, youthfulness, and innocence of the participants but also conveys a sense of people operating at peak performance, of being in their heyday.

Not related to the high school theme, there will be an evening of music on Friday, May 23, a three-band music showcase event hosted by a READNEX POETRY SQUAD. Ticket price will be approximately $30. All money raised will go toward The Front Line Tour, a national tour uniting communities through Hip Hop and Poetry. See www.myspace.com/readnex.

After the exhibition “Salad Days,” Gallery 2 will be rearranged to present the DreamYard installation, “What Do We See/What is Really Happening?” exploring the media, the home, and the education system. Questions of truth and accountability are addressed in this multi-media installation with interactive ballot boxes, found objects, photos and large-scale drawings. This is a one-day exhibit May 28, with reception the same evening from 5 to 9pm.