Artists tell Poly Prep students to create their own opportunities

April 13, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The panelists for the Women in the Arts forum at Poly Prep were Susan Yankowitz, Joan Ashley, Tavi Gevinson and Dr. Angela Gittens (seated left to right). Standing (left to right) are: Toya Lillard, Ruby Sky Stiler, Barbara Hunt McLanahan and Shavonne L. Dargan. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas

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A panel composed of artists and women working behind the scenes in the arts offered empowering advice to middle school students at Poly Prep Country Day School, telling the youngsters at a special forum not to sit around and wait for that big break, but instead to be bold, believe in themselves and create their own opportunities in life.

“It’s important for young women to create their own work. Don’t wait for the work to come to you,” Toya Lillard, executive director of viBe Theater Experience, told the students a “Women in the Arts” forum held at Poly Prep’s Bay Ridge campus Friday night. Lillard also urged the youngsters to embrace their individuality. “Don’t be afraid to bring your authentic self,” she said.

The forum, which took place in the school’s Memorial Chapel, was put together by middle school students who belong to the Poly Prep Chapter of the Girl Up Club, an organization sponsored by the United Nations that has chapters all over the world dedicated to helping young women realize their potential.

The panelists invited by Poly Prep’s Girl Up Chapter to speak at the forum included visual artists, playwrights, theater directors, museum directors, online magazine editors, dancers and musicians – all offering the same message: Just do it.

“You don’t get anywhere if you don’t get out there. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” advised Barbara Hunt McLanahan, executive director of the Children’s Museum of the Arts.

Dr. Angela Gittens, a French teacher at Poly Prep, who also serves as advisor to the school’s African Dance and Drum Club, urged the students to “get comfortable in your own skin,” and to not be afraid to speak out. She recalled attending a lecture at Yale University as a young woman and being “too afraid to get up and speak.”

In addition to Lillard, McLanahan and Gittens, the panelists were: Shavonne L. Dargan, vice president and account manager for Live Nation; Tavi Gevinson, an actress, writer and editor-in-chief of the magazine Rookie; Ruby Sky Stiler, a visual arts and sculptor; Joan Ashley, a drummer; and Susan Yankowitz, a playwright, novelist and lyricist.

When asked to offer advice on how to get started, Yankowitz said internships are a good way to begin.

“Find an individual or ideally a group whose work you admire and get an internship,” she said. “Just throw yourself into it. Don’t be afraid.”

Yankowitz also advised students to have confidence in themselves.

“Really be yourself. There’s no right way to write a play. The right way is to do it your way,” she said.

Ashley, who specializes in playing African drums, said that women in the arts can inspire each other and that she often finds that other females get their inspiration from her. On many occasions when she is playing in a band, Ashley said she looks around and realizes that she is the only woman playing the drums.

“I just step out there and do what I do,” she said. “My drumming affects everyone. Seeing me play gives them a certain confidence.”

The forum began with a performance by the African Dance and Drum Club in which both Ashley and Gittens performed along with the students in the club. The dance was a celebration of womanhood, Gittens explained.

Gail Karpf, an English teacher at Poly Prep, who serves as the advisor to the Girl Up Chapter, said after the forum that she believed the students got a lot out of it. “The speakers were all very inspiring and I think the students were listening very carefully,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle.

The Poly Prep Girl Up Chapter is currently conducting a fundraising campaign to raise money to pay for bicycles for girls in underdeveloped countries. Each bicycle costs $120, Karpf said.

Following the forum, a fundraising dinner took place in the school cafeteria.