Thirteen students from William Floyd High School were selected to participate in the first New York State Art Teachers Association (NYSATA) “All Island” workshop, held at Babylon High School. The students received invitations after achieving a “Distinguished with Mastery” ranking on their NYSATA Portfolio adjudication last spring.
During the workshop, students worked alongside Andres Gallardo, a Panamanian-American artist based in Brentwood. Gallardo is known for his “GEM (Give Everyone Moments) Project,” which involves hiding small pieces of his artwork in public spaces for people to find and keep. He has been featured in Newsday and the Long Island Press and has delivered a TED Talk about the GEM Project. Gallardo shared his mission of promoting kindness and community through art and spoke about his career as an artist.
After learning about Gallardo’s work, the students participated in a hands-on session where they created their own art using vinyl records as canvases. They used stencils and spray-paint techniques to produce layered effects before adding magazine collage, acrylic paint pen drawings, and other mixed-media elements.
Theresa Bianco, Fine Arts chairperson for the William Floyd School District, said: “We are very honored to have our students recognized and given an opportunity to work with a professional and successful artist. These young artists got to use different materials and approached something ‘found’ with a new eye and created beautiful pieces on vinyl records. The concept of making something old – new again and sharing your art is what fueled these creations in this immersive experience.”
The following students earned invitations: Colette Angona, Annamarie Colabella, Lilyanna Diaz, Jordyn Gandolfo, Isabella Humberstone, Jae Kim, Sofia Leslie, Olga Matos, Sasha Mckenzie, Hannah Schultzer, James Start, David Villegas and Coco Wang. Their teachers included Erin Almeida, Theresa Bianco, Melanie Kuklis and Erika Licausi.
The William Floyd School District serves over 9,400 students across 10 schools on Long Island’s south shore in Suffolk County as a public K-12 educational institution (official website). The district offers programs in STEM fields, career training such as engineering and medical assisting, arts—including music education that has received state recognition—and athletics (official website). It encourages collaboration among students, parents and educators to support student development (official website).
The district’s central offices are located in Mastic Beach (official website). Superintendent Kevin Coster leads the district with April Coppola serving as board president (official website).
