(Leslie Lew at Little Oaks Children’s Choice Day Care Center on the Oakland County government campus)
New York-based Park West Gallery artist Leslie Lew was in the Detroit area recently and conducted a series of free art education workshops at a wide variety of children’s centers in Pontiac and Detroit, including Little Oaks Child Care Center and the Focus: HOPE Center for Children. The workshops were sponsored by Park West Gallery.
“It gives me great joy and a sense of personal fulfillment to be able to introduce young children to the amazing world of art, and teach them that painting can be fun,” said Lew, a renowned American neo-pop artist. “Who knows? Maybe some of these children will one day become artists, or at least use the medium as a recreational outlet.”
Lew, who works in sculpted oil, uses “Buki’s Garden,” a story she wrote and illustrated, to tell the tale of a not so attractive kitty who shows that being different can have its advantages.
Her “Buki’s Garden Workshop” was made possible by a grant she received in 2004 from the New York Arts Council for the purpose of helping artists enrich the quality of life in their various communities.
The object lesson of “Buki’s Garden” is to teach children of all ages that being different is nothing to be ashamed of, since we’re all different in some way. She highlights the fact that diversity, on all levels, enhances rather than detracts from who we are as human beings.
Lew first reads the story of “Buki”, after which the children offer their questions and comments. The children are also given their own 3-D versions of “Buki” which Lew has mounted on white canvas board outlined in black. They then paint their own versions of “Buki.”
Park West Gallery founder and CEO Albert Scaglione described Lew as “a person of enormous charity and goodwill who utilizes her talents to enrich the lives of others and instill in them an appreciation and love for art.”
Lew’s art has been exhibited at museums and galleries in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, London and Sofia, Bulgaria.
For more information, please visit Park West Gallery at www.parkwestgallery.com
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