Children’s Sangha Students Experience Chinese Art at Gold Coast

Viewing art is enriching; creating art is challenging and fulfilling. A dozen teenaged students from The Children’s Sangha got the chance to do both recently at the Gold Coast Arts Center’s current exhibit, Chinese Artists in America.

The Children’s Sangha, based in Bellmore, NY, provides workshops, field trips and volunteer placements for young adults, with a focus on those whose youths whose abilities are often not being cultivated and their needs may not be fully met. Sangha is a term derived from ancient South Asian languages that denotes a nurturing community.

The teenagers toured an exhibit titled Chinese Artists in America, led by Jude Amsel (pictured left), Gallery Director at the Gold Coast Arts Center; then they participated in a hands-on art workshop with Hai Wei (pictured right) , one of the artists whose work is featured in the show. Mr. Wei demonstrated drawing techniques and helped the students with their art creations.

“One of the Gold Coast Arts Center’s aims is to promote active, and engaging participation in the arts,” says Ms. Amsel. “Engagement comes from exposure as well as hands-on activities, and the program we had with the students from The Children’s Sangha enabled both.”

The Children’s Sangha mission is “to plant the seeds of stewardship in children and young adults by deepening their understanding of themselves, others and nature, as well as fostering in adults the spirit of education and joys of the growing mind that they may cultivate it in our youth.” Ms. Amsel notes that the Gold Coast Arts Center wholly supports that mission.

Chinese Artists in America, which features eight contemporary Chinese-American artists, runs until March 30, 2019. The exhibition reflects the creative vitality of Chinese-American cultural growth through the arts and its historical and aesthetic linkage to other communities.

For more information, please call 515-829-2570 or visit www.goldcoastarts.org/chinese-artists-in-america/.

About the Gold Coast Arts Center
The Gold Coast Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting the arts through education, exhibition, performance and outreach. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, it has brought the arts to tens of thousands of people throughout the region for over 20 years. Among the Center’s offerings are its School for the Arts, which holds year-round classes in visual and performing arts for students of all ages and abilities; a free public art gallery; a concert and lecture series; film screenings and discussions; the annual Gold Coast International Film Festival; and initiatives that focus on senior citizens and underserved communities. These initiatives include artist residencies, after-school programs, school assemblies, teacher-training workshops and parent-child workshops. The Gold Coast Arts Center is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education program, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. More information can be found at www.goldcoastarts.org.