If anyone has old and used costumes or vintage clothing from parents, relatives, grandparents, or their closets in adult sizes and has no use for them, the Bishop Gibbons Photography Class would love to have them and will make excellent and creative use of them.
The students are studying portrait photography and hope to create colorful and fascinating models for each other to photograph, from Star Wars to Harry Potter to Character Costumes.
(the sea painting above is by Sam, the sculptor)
Vintage clothing or hats that are no longer used will help, and so will stuffy and outdated dresses and suits. This photographic challenge sounds like great fun and will teach much about photography. But they can’t do it without your help, as usual.
If you have or can get hold of any of these vintage and distinctive items – soon-to-be costumes – you can send them to Sue Silverstein, Bishop Gibbons High School, 2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304. The kids are all cranked up about this and are anxious to see what they can do with what people send them.
This will be a photo competition; the judges are Sue, Maria and me.
What I’m seeing is that creativity is opening these students up and bringing them to things that they love doing. That is a beautiful thing to see, and in the digital age, increasingly rare. Sue is making artists and teaching them in ways that they love. We need to help her out.
Sue doesn’t just talk the talk; she walks the walk. I admire her and love her for the good she does and for the good she is. She has changed too many lives to count.
I hope you can help; thanks in advance. The art program Sue Silverstein is running has taken off like a rocket; this idea not only calls for creativity but will be the kind of fun that will draw these children to art, photography, and creativity. It also gets them off of Instagram and TikTok for a while and shows them other forms of creative expression.
“What’s wonderful about this art,” says Sue, “are the different ways the kids get to be creative and learn what they love to do. I want to keep this going; they are catching fire.”
Sue almost never asks us to spend a lot of money. She works to create projects that recycle our world, help the earth, and spark the imagination. She is wonderful to work with. The flower painting is by Dah Blue.
“Fire On Wood” is by Hser Nay. Thanks for paying for her tuition. She is paying us back all the time.
What Sue is doing with those students inspires me. I remember taking an elective, Art 101, for an easy A. About half way through, we did a section on architecture. In my freshman mind it was unexpected and brought me joy then and still … more than 50 years later! Wish I could tell her that, but of course I lost track of her. Sure wish I could supply some of that vintage clothing, but can’t. Maybe I can thank Sue for what she is doing for her students instead? Yes, I think I will.