I Am Not Broken: Building Understanding Through Art

Featuring: Red Hook Art Project students (listed), with RHAP Alumni Emerging Artist Rosana Zapata

Our students are currently working on I Am Not Broken, a new 2026 multimedia art series designed to empower students to explore, express, and share their personal narratives through art. This series invites young people to confront the challenges and complexities of their lives while amplifying the strength, resilience, and creativity inherent in their communities. Through this series, RHAP students create artwork that reflects their grit, compassion, love, strength, and commitment to fostering positive impact in their environments, communities, and relationships. Through this public work, RHAP aims to spark dialogue, challenge biases, and promote healing within our historically marginalized neighborhood.

Red Hook remains a vibrant yet challenged community grappling with economic inequality, environmental injustice, and systemic disinvestment. Despite these challenges, Red Hook has a deep well of creativity, solidarity, and pride. I Am Not Broken will offer an opportunity for residents—including long-time NYCHA residents, newly arrived immigrant families, and youth from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds—to share their stories, foster empathy, and envision a stronger, more connected future together. Especially in today’s polarized political climate, this project serves as a vital platform for affirming Red Hook’s collective resilience and humanity.

Organizations

Red Hook Art Project (RHAP)

The Red Hook Art Project is a youth organization committed to providing art education and opportunities primarily to BIPOC students residing in the NYCHA Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn. Our mission is to empower young artists, age 7-18, from 140+ families, supporting both students and BIPOC arts educators in and around Red Hook. Along with after school homework help, our arts programming includes Principles of Design, Music Production, Glass Beadmaking, Window Design, Digital & Mixed Media, Photography 101, Guitar 101, and Ceramics.

Our programs cater to the needs of our diverse community, addressing the Brooklyn arts education gap resulting from racial inequity. Our teaching model focuses on equity, evident in our successful portfolio preparation program. Located near the Red Hook Houses, our studio serves as a community hub, engaging students through traditional and emerging arts programming. With a commitment to diversity, our current student population, largely Latinx and African American, reflects our dedication to bridging the opportunity gap in arts education. As we expand, we remain a vital part of the Brooklyn non-profit and arts ecosystems, ensuring our students have access to enriching and competitive artistic opportunities.
Photoville

Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.

In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.

By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.

Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.

For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
PhotoWings

PhotoWings believes that photography has the power to influence the world. As such, we invest in strategic collaborations and programs that help make photography better understood, created, utilized, seen and saved. We also have a rich archive with hundreds of hours of original interviews and partner presentations from both within and outside the photo world, as well as curricula, tool kits, resources and community activities. We believe that meaningful engagement with photography can foster deep thinking, communication and help people better understand and navigate the world.

PhotoWings has been a proud partner of the Eddie Adams Workshop since 2015, and of Catchlight and Photoville since 2017.