By Harold Goldberg
In late May, I received a message from author Kathy Z. Price. She wrote that she was curating an exhibit at the Woodstock Artists Association Museum (WAAM) upstate, and she wanted to know what student work from our Playing With Purpose program might be appropriate for the show, which would begin on Juneteenth and run through August 9th.
We chose the work of three students from our classes at the High School of Fashion Technologies in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. These were award-winning video game narratives and designs from Bianca Rasheed rhythm-based Rock Girls Project, Alisha Gomes’ warning about AI, Project Code, What’s A Passion, and Yazmin Solano’s horror narrative, La Casa.
Soon after the exhibition began, the curator sent this update.
“The student exhibition has been very well received, and visitors have been genuinely excited by the projects.
“We wanted to give the students’ work a distinct identity within the exhibition, so it was integrated into its own area with a special focus. The presentation is innovative and engaging. We used two monitors to highlight the video animation of Alisha Gomes’ work juxtaposed against Bianca Rasheed’s and Yazlin Solano’s work, which had a separate display adjacent to the other two. The result was exciting and unexpected. The separation in lieu of integrating into the main space gave the colorful and slightly abstract premise its own aesthetic and world.
“We included the students, their high school and the art reference in our publicity materials and brief orientation.
“We will also be highlighting the students’ work further at our closing ceremony on August 9. Ken Thompson, a dedicated member of our board and also a New York City High School teacher, will showcase and amplify the students’ voices as part of this special presentation. This will offer them a valuable platform to share their creative achievements with the community. We are encouraging your students to participate in a special segment where they can engage directly with attendees and answer questions about using video as a creative medium—an especially fitting opportunity since our closing ceremony will also feature various media and video presentations.”
A few days ago, I was able to view the exhibition for myself because I was in Woodstock, New York to read at the public library from my new novel, “The Skinny.”
Their work in this prestigious setting really is extraordinary to witness. While some of our students have talked with curators at the Museum of Modern Art regarding their archive of video games, this is the first time the work of our young people has been presented at a museum’s gallery. We want to thank the good people at WAAM for including our work, and especially Kathy Z. Price for championing our Playing With Purpose program and our talented students for this exceptional opportunity.
Author/journalist Harold Goldberg is the founder of the New York Videogame Critics Circle, the New York Game Awards and the Playing With Purpose program.
