Vanessa DiVisconti talked to Y.A.L.E. students along with director Margaret Chapman.
In anticipation of the sixth annual Tri-State Ability Art Show, the Young Adolescent Learning Experience (Y.A.L.E.) School hosted an assembly by the Michael Polimeni Foundation on March 19.
The foundation honors the legacy of artist Michael “BÄST” Polimeni, who passed in 2021, and was started by his widow, Vanessa DiVisconti, three months ago. Polimeni, who was born in Brooklyn in 1970, was a prolific artist throughout his life who worked with the likes of Marc Jacobs, Agnès B and Banksy.
Y.A.L.E. – which serves students with disabilities from ages 3 to 21 – is the first organization the foundation has worked with since its creation. DiVisconti said her mission is to “support art therapy, art education and creative programs for disabled and underserved children, including upcoming collaborations with local schools, while preserving Michael’s artistic legacy and fostering greater access to the arts within our communities.”
To that end, DiVisconti, who was married to Polimeni for 27 years, brought the foundation to Y.A.L.E. to address students who often get little attention.
“He (Polimeni) felt that kids get overlooked sometimes and they really are talented and creative,” she explained. “But they’re not shown anything. And they don’t experience anything. He wanted to experience that with them. He thought that would be A, good art therapy, and B, would bring fun.
“Because he loved life and he loved to have fun, he wanted to have fun with them.”
Foundation manager Russ Katz said that the organization wants to expand to other schools going forward.
“The broader vision to the long term is to have things like this with all different schools for children with disabilities,” Katz outlined. “Plan workshops and expand our reach.”
While DiVisconti said there are details that can’t be shared yet, the foundation has plans for the future, including gallery presentations and an exhibit both in the U.S. and Europe.
During the Y.A.L.E. assembly, she told students about her husband and asked them how they can make art. They then created buildings out of cardboard and other materials that will be combined into a collage for exhibit at the Tri-State Ability Art Show on Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25.
A collection of the pieces that the students made during the workshop.
Y.A.L.E.’s director, Margaret Chapman, pointed out that the school chose to showcase the Polimeni Foundation because the kind of art its namesake made resonates with their students.
“I think it’s the fact that there’s a level of spontaneity in his artwork,” she noted. “And I believe that our students express themselves very fluidly. Some do like a little bit of structure, but most are very happy just expressing themselves with a lot of freedom. (Polimeni) to me represents that level of freedom in art and expression.”
Chapman gave the example of one student who wanted to make a castle, but wasn’t sure he should.
“I asked him what he was adding to the city,” Chapman recalled. “And he said a castle. And then he said, ‘There are castles in cities, right?’ Yes, there are castles in England … Get that curiosity and make those connections.”
Justice Brewer, a 4th grader at Y.A.L.E., found a reason to like the foundation presentation.
“It’s just really fun,” he said. “It’s better than doing work.”
Karen Donnelly, a Y.A.L.E. art teacher who helped organize the event, said administrators hosted the Polimeni Foundation to showcase an artist with a wide background, given that many of the school’s students are limited in the areas they’ve experienced.
“So it provides them with some real actual insight into the real world of the arts per se, and it exposes them to something they may not have ever participated in before in the arts,” she pointed out. “A lot of our students have never been to New York City before.
“A lot of them are local to Philly and Camden, and so a lot of them have not left the South Jersey area.”
Donnelly said she started the art show so special-ed students have an opportunity to express their artistic abilities.
“I … recognized that there wasn’t an opportunity in our region, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Delaware, for children who have special needs to be able to participate in an art show that is inclusive to their needs,” she shared, “that acknowledges their successes and celebrates each individual artist for who they are as young artists.”
Y.A.L.E.’s art show has a fundraising component: Students design mugs, T-shirts and other merchandise for sale. All proceeds go to a local nonprofit. This year, that will be Trenton Artworks.
