Search for the West Side Story Painting: Part I

As the child of my father, I had in my possession a very interesting record collection by the time I was ten. By then, my father had tossed me an odd array of albums, he felt for one reason or another, he had to pass on to me. Among these albums were the soundtracks to many Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar and West Side Story. I spent many years listening to records probably deemed odd for a ten year-old, such as Franky Valli and the Four Seasons, the soundtrack to Breakfast at Tiffany's and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Many of the titles I just named molded my consciousness into images and storylines which remained untarnished by the cinematic productions themselves. I can only equate the experience with the difference between reading a book and seeing the cinematic version: the former always wins out because in the end, nothing ever beats your own, unhindered imagination. One of the albums that I listened to the most, although I had never seen the movie, was West Side Story. I would listen from beginning to end, letting the music unleash my own version of the movie in my mind. On other occasions, my sister and I would dress up with hand-me downs from our Aunt that included colourful skirts and much too large blouses, and for a brief time, our messy chaotic bedroom would transform itself to rooftops full of warring ethnic gangs, while we sang songs of longing for islands and love.
One day in my fourth grade class I remember that I painted a painting inspired by West Side Story. It, if my memory recalls, should be a depiction of a fire escape and a full moon. I can remember that there were the thick brush strokes of public school paintbrushes against the large, thin tan paper that we painted on. I remember the smell of poster paint, the reds, the yellows, the browns that I used. I remember my 4th grade art teacher swooping down on me, and loving it and telling me, "There's going to be an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of paintings by Brooklyn children. I would love to use this one."
I was happy to have my painting chosen among the few, although my life quickly unraveled after that. There were the fights at school, the fights at home which were increasingly getting worse. There was the promise/threat of being sent to Trinidad to live with my grandparents which finally, unbelievably seemed to be coming true after I managed to speed up the process by ensuring I had gotten kicked out of school in the 5th grade. The painting, although always remembered, was not something I seemed to have the luxury of time to pursue....
Almost twenty years later I have decided to try to find it. I wrote the following to The Brooklyn Museum:

Hi. My name is Lesley-Ann Brown and I am a Brooklyn writer currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. I have quite an unusual question and I am hoping that someone can help me. When I was in the 4th grade (around 1982, 83?) My painting was chosen for an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. I attended P.S. 152 at the time. Due to a series of life-changing events, I never got to find out whatever happened to this painting. Is there anyone who could help me with this? For instance, maybe there is a policy that such work is returned to the schools after exhbition etc. But any assistance or point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Warm Regards,
Lesley-Ann Brown

To which I received the following response today:

Dear Ms. Brown,

Your inquiry was forwarded to my attention. There was a series of annual exhibitions sponsored and organized by the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association (BACA) in cooperation with the New York City Board of Education called "Salute to Brooklyn's Creative Youth." The selected artworks were displayed in hundreds of sites throughout Brooklyn, including our Museum. Our Library has a catalog for the "Salute to Brooklyn's Creative Youth" March 13, 1983 - April 24, 1938 exhibition which includes a listing for a "Lesly Brown" from sch. 152, whose artwork was exhibited at the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and not at the Museum.

I found some information on procedures for this series of exhibitions. According to the material, all artwork was to be picked up by each district Art Supervisor at the end of the exhibition. There was an assigned Art Supervisor for each school district who coordinated the artwork for this exhibition.

Most likely, your painting was picked up by the Art Supervisor at the end of the exhibition. You may want to check with the New York City Board of Education.

I hope you find this information helpful.


Wow. Helpful is not even the word...being able to but see an image of this painting will be like getting a glimpse into my 10 year-old soul.

farvel,
the lab