Meet Meridith McNeal | Artist, co-founder & director ART YARD BKLYN

We had the good fortune of connecting with Meridith McNeal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Meridith, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
AYB was envisioned by artists, for artists. I met AYB co-founder Dennis Buonagura at Rush Arts where we worked together on art programs for youth: I served as Education Director and Dennis as Education Coordinator. When Rush closed, we sought to continue Rush’s work with underserved children and teens through established partnership schools and weekend/afterschool programs. We invited teaching artists and former students to join AYB to work together to develop and implement the vision for our programs.

Today, as AYB, we are committed to working as a community and to developing relationships with participating artists, schools, arts professionals, and arts organizations. Our core values emphasize our support for artists of all ages, as well as local families and schools. We value unique perspectives and seek the support of our participants in developing programs.

AYB is a place where all are considered peers. This is evident in our inclusive critiquing methods, which encourage comfort in expressing opinions and connections to the world. We value each other as makers, recognizing that artists on all parts of their journey have an important voice to be recognized, and serve as a catalyst, providing connections to mentors and previously unconsidered possibilities.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
ART YARD BKLYN (AYB) is a not-for-profit arts organization that provides contemporary visual art education for underserved and often marginalized people of all ages through dedicated classes and K-12 school partnerships. Participants are supported, mentored, and given opportunities as artists and teachers if they wish to pass the threshold into the professional art world.

At AYB, we practice critical thinking free from judgment while uplifting our community. We consider ourselves to be a haven for practicing artists where everyone is encouraged to be kind, open and respectful.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are based in Brooklyn, NY. The list of things to do in NYC is endless! However, you would be welcome to start by visiting ART YARD BKLYN in our studio the expansive, open warehouse of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

NYC is a place to see contemporary art in person, we take frequent field trips to galleries, museums, and artists’ studios to see art in person. We recommend all of the locations we visited this year which include: FiveMyles Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn Bridge Park (to view public sculpture); and Wall Gallery. In Manhattan: The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, The Galleries at the Interchurch Center, Morgan Library Museum, Cue Art Foundation, and M55 Gallery.

Several top-tier Brooklyn eateries have supported our programs and we highly recommend: Locanda Vini e Olii, Camillo, Aita, Aita Trattoria, LaRina Pastificio & Vino, and the Red Hook Lobster Pound. We love the seltzer from Brooklyn Seltzer Boys & their quirky Brooklyn Seltzer Museum is open for tours!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
ART YARD BKLYN is made possible by our intergenerational community of deeply talented, creative, radical thinkers. I would like to acknowledge all of the spectacular AYB artists – from our youngest students to our accomplished practitioners with decades of experience – every single one of them is essential and worthy of recognition! We view art as a holistic endeavor which allows people to delve into any topic imaginable. The practice of learning, creating, thinking, and discussing art nourishes people of all ages in body, mind, heart, and spirit. AYB builds and strengthens participants’ skills and thinking by fostering a sense of civic responsibility and awareness of social justice.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is the basis for AYB as an organization. It is the principle upon which we are founded, it is the environment in which we operate, and it is the milieu in which we do our work. AYB staff and Teaching Artists are stylistically, culturally, and generationally diverse professional artists and educators. We share a social justice, social practice and activist lens that is reflected in our artmaking and teaching, including addressing inequitable art and education access; the carceral system; LGBTQ+ rights; systemic racism; sexism; the degradation of the planet; homelessness; and more.

Website: www.artyardbklyn.org

Instagram: artyardbklyn

Facebook: artyardbklyn

Youtube: @artyardbklyn3830

Other: TikTok artyardbklyn

Image Credits
Meridith McNeal