Here is an image of me in my junior year at High School of Art and Design.  It seems like yesterday. Getting up at 6 am going on the NYC train a 45 minute ride to school every morning I loved it because I loved school and never wanted to be at home due to my family situation.  I loved the program at High School of Art and Design – at the age of 12 you go through a 4 year program.  Applicants must take an entrance exam and present a portfolio to be accepted- I did this in the 8^th grade.  I was coming from St Barbara s Catholic elementary school in Brooklyn East New York. Brooklyn East New York was one of the poorest neighborhoods in Brooklyn.  Since the late 1950s East New York has had some of the highest crime rates in Brooklyn, and is considered the borough’s murder capital.  Many social problems associated with poverty from crime to drug addiction have been prevalent in the area for decades. I was so glad to be attending this high school as opposed to a high school in Brooklyn.  At Art and Design freshmen sample all art and design subjects before selecting a major for their sophomore, junior and senior years.  This kept my mind alert and I excelled in science, math and English at the same time.

 

 

 Students at Art and Design receive two periods of art instruction per day, choosing from among eight art majors: cartooning, animation, architecture, graphic design, illustration, fashion, photography, and film/video.  I chose photography as my major– I loved mastering the art of black and white printing – I loved mastering the 4x 5 Linhof camera- I loved the students that I met: Eugene, Tom, Lilly- Buddy-Lenny-Laura Judy and more – I worked as a hair washing girl at a salon after school so that I could buy paper to print on and saved up to by my first camera Nikon F2S- my family did not have money for things like this – so at a young age – I improvised multi tasked and found a way to get the I needed to master photography and make my way through high school.  I was the Vice President of my class senior year and received an award for excellence in photography.  It was in my senior year I obtained a part time job at a company called Expo Motion – industrial Slide Show Company developing slide film and became a forex camera operator.  I was recruited to a company called Jim Santandrea http://jimsantandreaproductions.com/ from there to become a Junior Art Director producer of slide shows.  It was at Jim Stantandreas a project that we did for CBS records that led me to LA.  You see the show was at Los Angeles Royce Hall.  Jim flew 8 of us out there- I think it was the second day that I decided that I wanted to leave NY and move to LA – and so it began a great journey for me. High School of Art and Design gave me a great stepping stone and I thank the stars above for  High Schools like this –I also applied to High School of  Music and Art- High School of Performing Arts and The Bronx High School of Science- I was accepted in all four schools at that time but I must say thankful that I chose High School of Art and Design.  Here are some other hip cats that went to HS Art and Design- Tony Bennett, singer and painter-  Calvin Klein, fashion designer ^–Roscoe Orman, actor, author, and illustrator, best known as “Gordon” on Sesame Street –Lenny White, jazz-funk drummer, member of Return to Forever – Steven Meisel, fashion photographer- Lorna Simpson, artist and photographer.

Looking forward to Saturdays High School of Art and Designs reunion at the Society of Illustrators on 63 street.

LOVE LIFE ART MUSIC CREATION FREEDOM.

PEACE PEREZ