Sophia Verbicky is a 12th grader at Bishop Gibbons High School, whose art program we have been supporting in every way we can.

Sue Silverstein is a brilliant artist and art teacher who has uncorked a volcano of creativity with the non-stop support of the Army Of Good.

These children are learning art in a way I’ve never seen it taught before.

Seeing the work pouring out of her radically different and popular art programs and classes is thrilling.

Like the other students in her class, Sophia was assigned to take a white paper and come up with a dozen photographs.

These two blew me away at her capture of space, shadow, and conception on a blank piece of paper. I will be teaching her shortly when I go to Bishop Gibbons to teach photography, and I can’t wait. I want to know how she did it.

These are not kids who get to go to fancy art programs in the summer. Almost all of them work.

Good photography, in my mind, centers around several things. Light is perhaps the most important to me, followed by subject, color and shade, composition, and distance. A photograph is all about emotion for me.

Sophia got a tough assignment; Visual Artist Denis Defibaugh, a Rhode Island School Of Design professor, inspired it. The project was called Beautiful From Nothing. Sophia gets an A plus from me. So do the work of her classmates.

Her photos work in several ways; the lines, shadows, and feelings are exceptional. I am eager to see more of her work and to get to know her. This photo takes a lot of imagination, confidence, and imagination.

She found a lot of beauty in a piece of white paper.

Sue Silverstein needs paint canvasses (8 x14 or close) and photo paper, in any amount available, even a few short pages. None of this beautiful work would have been done without our support.

If you can help, that would be great. The address is Sue Silverstein, Bishop Gibbons High School, 2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304.

And thank you.