Reflections from a Partnership with Artistic Noise
Just blocks from the Studio Museum in Harlem sits Artistic Noise, an organization dedicated to supporting the artistic expression and creative practices of system-impacted youth in New York City. Artistic Noise engages youth from the juvenile court, shelter, foster care, mental health care, and probation systems, among others.
In the fall of 2024, the Studio Museum began a partnership with Artistic Noise centered around the mentorship of their alumni artists in residence Jasmine Alford, Samantha Cortez, and Joe Goodwin, otherwise known as Shavuo. Since the Museum has been closed while it builds its new home, the Department of Learning & Engagement has pushed community partnerships forward and continues to consider how to share its institutional resources with the neighborhood. This partnership connects residents with curators, artists, and museum professionals through studio visits and workshops on website building, artwork documentation, and grants and professional opportunities. Each session builds upon the next, creating an echo within an artist’s practice.
Shavuo presents his work to Assistant Curator Yelena Keller and Curatorial Assistant Adria Gunter during a studio visit. “Artistic Noise has helped provide the tools to execute the things I've always wanted to do as far as my music and my art,” says Shavuo. Photo: Studio Museum
At a table adorned with several cups of vibrant paint colors, Cortez vigorously mixes hues of green and yellow in preparation for her next piece. Cortez, a mixed-media artist, educator, and activist, uses her artwork to embody the ways system-impacted youth can imagine a life beyond what they have been conditioned to accept. ^"It’s a manifesto to young people who have gone through the system,” she says of her work. Her favorite aspect of the partnership is building relationships with artists in her community and using their feedback to take her practice to new levels, reflecting, “When it comes to this residency, I recognize this unique opportunity as an investment in myself.”
In the corner of the studio, Alford works diligently at her computer, playing with different gradients to add to her new website. Alford, a dancer, educator, and visual artist, feels Artistic Noise has helped her sustain connections in her community. “Artistic Noise is all about community; it’s a good opportunity for the community and me,” she says. She notes that the residency has provided her with opportunities to dance with her crew, Bomb Squad, and expand her portfolio as a tattoo artist. It has also pushed her to explore darker subjects in her work, saying, “Not all of it has to be understood.”
Shavuo’s signature scar motif on the faces of his subjects symbolizes the vulnerability and bravery of perseverance. “There is no story without struggle,” says Shavuo. Shavuo, how about them apples?, 2024. Image courtesy the artist
“I would recommend to my peers and anyone looking to take that next step in their art
career to not look at something as, ‘ugh, i have to get this done’ but ‘this is going to get done because this was made for me,’” says Cortez. Samantha Cortez,
three ladies, 2024. Courtesy the artist
When it comes to this residency, I recognize this unique opportunity as an investment in myself.
Artistic Noise’s walls are papered with an energetic mix of alumni artwork. Among these works are many of Shavuo’s paintings. “I’m grateful for this partnership, because something as simple as documenting our work and making websites for ourselves is something I’ve always wanted to do that this partnership put into action,” he says. His participation in the partnership has clarified the rigor being an artist can require—“you create what you want at the capacity you want to.”