Silence Is Violence

Hosted in different public schools in Orleans Parish, including all of the alternative schools of New Orleans, the artist-run Peace Clubs provide an environment for the students to actually see and use art as an alternative expression to violence. Local artists run weekly workshops, leading the students on a project that helps them express their communities’ issues through their own eyes.

As our students generally come from the most challenging environments with little formal exposure to the arts, these clubs give them an opportunity to experiment with different art forms, discuss their everyday life concerns in a comfortable environment, and be exposed to positive role models working in the community. The art projects are diverse and include painting, poetry, dance, theater, second-line culture, and film. The professional artists who lead the clubs are very familiar with these students’ challenges and use these connections to inspire and motivate the students.

This Spring semester, we have 6 Peace Clubs in 5 different schools:

• Drawing and Painting Club with Mario Padilla (www.mariopadilla.com) with Hope Academy's middle school  (an alternative school)
• Dance, Music and Entrepreneurship Club with Cedric Scott (of MENovation) with Hope Academy's high school (an alternative school)
• Poetry and Collage Club with Paige Valente (www.paigevalente.com) and Jourdan Barnes of YA/YA (www.yayainc.com) with Success Academy's middle school (an alternative school)
• Furniture design and decoration Club with Madania Graves of YA/YA (www.yayainc.com) with Success Academy's high school (an alternative school)
• Drama and Puppetting Club with the Mudlark Puppeteers (www.themudlarkconfectionary.com) with Craig Elementary's 2nd grade
• Music Production Club with Eduardo Tozzatto (www.myspace.com/govtmajik) with Craig Elementary's 8th grade
• Painting Club with Mario Padilla (www.mariopadilla.com) with John McDonough High School's special education class
• Poetry Club with Paige Valente (www.paigevalente.com) with Walter L. Cohen's 9th grade
• Fine Arts Survey Club with various artists at Walter L. Cohen and Hope Academy.

Paige Valente's Poetry Club at Cohen High School is sponsored in honor of Ben and Ethel, two individuals who had an enormous appreciation of education as a basic human right and the one thing that no one can ever take away from you.