RMS opens Diversity Art Gallery

WEST ORANGE – Excitement filled the air at Roosevelt Middle School on Feb. 20 as students and staff hosted the opening of the Diversity Art Gallery.

The process began about a year ago when art teacher Janis Oliver approached Principal Lionel Hush and Vice Principal Olivia Betances about restoring the gallery area.

“The actual restoration began last year,” she said. “In designing the gallery, all I really hoped for was to create a vibrant, inclusive space to showcase student art and to celebrate the beauty of RMS’s student diversity. I wanted a space where we could embrace and celebrate our differences through art.’

The gallery opened on Feb. 20 with Superintendent Hayden Moore in attendance to cut the ribbon. Seventh and eighth grade students began working on themed artwork in recognition of Black History Month. The gallery is now a permanent space where themed projects will cycle in and out throughout the year.

“For the launch of the grand reopening, administration and the art department agreed that this current exhibition would be on display for three to four weeks, so March 21 will be the last day for this Black History Month display, including artwork by Featured Artist Kiara Barnett,” said Art Teacher Kristy Lopez. “Subsequent artists will be
featured as the installations change. Eighth grade artists created ‘The Influential Black American Portraits in Micrography,’ and seventh grade artists painted ‘Dear Passion’ illustrations. The Community Curtain, an interactive activity the day of the opening, will remain on display until June, when school is over.”

Featured Artist Kiara Barnett is an eighth grade student that has studied with Oliver for the past two years. She has always had a passion for art and loves all art forms: painting, drawing, and sculpture. Her favorite medium is marker rendering..

“We aim to continue displaying the beauty of the diversity of our school,” Lopez said. “We look forward to spotlighting works of art that respond to the themes that prompt our inclusion, such as Women’s History, Autism Awareness, Holocaust Remembrance, Asian Pacific Islander Awareness, LGBTQ+ Pride, Spanish Heritage, etc. Every English Language Arts class participated in identifying well-known figures, appreciated the decisions in the details, read vulnerable passages and poems, and participated in diversifying our community curtain with uplifting messages of unity, togetherness, and hope.”

Oliver said the community curtain will remain for the remainder of the school year and messages will continue to be added to the hanging strands.

“The art will grow and change as the year goes by,” Oliver said. “The idea of having an interactive art piece that everyone that entered the space could be a part of was very important to me. It is a way that we can connect with one another. I think the idea of a collaborative piece is quite powerful and dynamic.”

  Diversity, Roosevelt Middle School, West Orange