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Students from Bloomfield Hills Schools PREP Program Unveil Art Created with Acclaimed Artists Hubert Massey and S. Kay Young

Students from Bloomfield Hills Schools PREP Program Unveil Art Created with Acclaimed Artists Hubert Massey and S. Kay Young

Throughout the school year, Bloomfield Hills Schools PREP students participated in a residency with world-famous Detroit artist Hubert Massey and renowned photographer S. Kay Young, collaborating on a mosaic mural and preparing photography and other art for an exhibit now available to view at The Hawk Farmington Hills Community Center. The 25-week program was made possible through a Michigan Art Access Artist-in-Residency, a program hosted by the non-profit organization promoting creativity, education, and accessibility to the arts for people with disabilities.

“It was all a creative working process step-by-step,” said PREP Teacher Russ McCall of the various aspects of the exhibit. “The artists have been remarkable in working with the students.”  

As a part of the residency, PREP students were guided by Massey and Young on an art-seeking field trip where they were inspired by Detroit’s rich art scene and learned elements of photography using their phone cameras. With the assistance of the professional artists, the students then used what they discovered to create multiple individual abstract works of art. The final project of the residency is a large mosaic mural. The students have completed the first panel and will finish the additional panels with Massey in the coming weeks. Once finalized, the mural will be displayed at a Bloomfield Hills Schools location.

“The project morphed from the original proposal and became something bigger and better, as is often the case with creatives during the creative process,” said Michigan Arts Access (MiAA) Executive Director Michael Gielniak. “Michigan Arts Access is proud to have such incredible artists as Hubert Massey and S. Kay Young working for us.”

The whole process of creating steps for the mural was an exceptional experience, explained McCall. “The students loved the photography sessions, especially being able to take their own photos and exploring what to take. They also really gravitated towards artistic creativity in choosing the colors and designs.”

PREP Student Grace Mularoni attended the exhibit with their classmates and was amazed to see how much student work from the project was on display. “My favorite part is getting to see the photos and all the work we have done!” said Mularoni.

The final mosaic panel on display is impressive in its creativity and design. PREP Teacher Meghan Gornick explained,“Everything we did was all shapes. Mr. Massey kept guiding us to use various shapes, even if they overlapped, so everyone in the program could take part. We liked what we had done, but when Mr. Massey took it and put on the finishing touches with the grout, we all got really excited by the final product.”

Artists, students, teachers, and families were invited to celebrate and admire the mosaic mural and student art and photographs during the opening of the art exhibit on the morning of May 18th at The Hawk Farmington Hills Community Center. The exhibit will be available for the public to view through June 1, 2022, at the community center located at 29995 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills.

PREP is a post-secondary educational program operated by Bloomfield Hills Schools for young adults ages 18 - 26 who have developmental and physical disabilities.