The Y.A.L.E. School hosted its sixth annual Tri-State Ability Art Show last month with work from disabled students in grades K-12 and ages 18 to 21 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
All told, the two-day event raised $1,000 from shirt sales and other items to benefit Trenton Artworks, a visual arts center. This year’s show marks the first joint partnership for the school and the Michael Polimeni Foundation, named after the late pop-culture artist Michael “BÄST” Polimeni.
The show featured 350 pieces of artwork from 29 schools, with about 260 awards issued for student entries. Attendance was approximately 300 people over both days.
Vanessa DiVisconti, who was married to Polimeni for 27 years, spoke to the gathered students and parents about the impact of art on the world.
“Art is such a rare and honest form of expression,” she noted. “It tells us how someone sees the world, what they notice and what they feel. Every piece here is a small window into that inner world. And that is something truly remarkable.
“One of the awards this evening is given in honor of Michael Polimeni,” DiVisconti added of her husband. “His spirit as an artist was rooted in originality and fearless creativity. And it is a privilege to see that legacy carried forward in this way.”
Karen Donnelly, a Y.A.L.E. art teacher who helped organize the show, was among teachers who handed out individualized honors to students, including the cutie patootie, the enchantress and the storyteller awards.
Logan Smith, a second-grader at the Y.A.L.E. School Northfield in Atlantic County, won the Michael Polimeni Award for Artistic Excellence, while Prince Johnson, a third-grader the Y.A.L.E. School in Medford, earned the Dr. Gene Neglia Award for Artistic Excellence.
Like the Polimeni award, the Neglia is named for Dr. Gene Neglia, a retired elementary teacher and former treasurer of the Arts Educators of New Jersey who died in 2024.
Logan Smith, a student at the Y.A.L.E. school in Atlantic County, with the piece that earned him the Michael Polimeni Award for Artistic Excellence.
The art show’s judges included Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Art Education Association, Art Educators of New Jersey, Perkins Center for the Arts and Arts Ed NJ.
Donnelly praised the winners after the awards ceremony.
” … It’s always just great seeing the students shine on the stage, be acknowledged …” she noted. “It’s just really special seeing the parents and just seeing how happy they are for their child that they get to be featured in our gallery here and acknowledged by the people in the community.
“I think that that’s just beautiful to see.”
Rebecca Singleton, a teacher at Steinert High School in Mercer County, saw 12 of her students display art in the show that comprised a variety of pieces, from ceramics to sculptures, to graphic designs and some two-dimensional art. It’s the first time she’s had student work featured at Y.A.L.E.
“I’ve wanted to get involved for the past three years and it’s just a lot of work to prep the student work,” she acknowledged. “And my students are in three other shows. So it worked beautifully, and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”
Upon learning of medals that were going to her students, Singleton grew emotional thinking how that would excite them.
“Oh, there’s a medal, they’re gonna cry,” she said. “Stop it. I’m gonna cry … Seriously, that is so cool.”
Y.A.L.E. School’s two-day art show raised $1,000 from shirt sales and other items to benefit Trenton Artworks, a visual arts center.
