Newburgh Free Academy Scholars Display Art and Poetry at SUNY Orange Exhibit

Scholars from Newburgh Free Academy's Main and North campus displayed artwork and poetry at SUNY Orange in Newburgh as part of an exhibit that commemorates the United Nations signing the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Each student needed to identify one of the 30 articles in the Declaration of Human Rights and create a piece with a similar theme.

December 10, 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of a momentous statement to the world by the General Assembly of the United Nations: the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One member of the drafting committee of the UN Commission on Human Rights was Hernán Santa Cruz of Chile who wrote, “I perceived clearly that I was participating in a truly significant historic event in which a consensus had been reached as to the supreme value of the human person, a value that did not originate in the decision of a worldly power, but rather in the fact of existing — which gave rise to the inalienable right to live free from want and oppression and to fully develop one’s personality.” The Declaration was the first international recognition that all human beings have fundamental rights and freedoms.

Now in its seventh year of celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, through its annual art show, the Orange County Human Rights Commission (OCHRC) presents: An Artist’s Response to Human Rights.

This exhibit offers juniors and seniors in Orange County high schools the opportunity of expressing their feelings about the importance of human rights in today’s world by depicting artworks and writing poems or essays about topics related to the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students participating in this year’s show represent the following schools: Minisink Valley High School, Warwick Valley High School, Washingtonville High School, Storm King School, Newburgh Free Academy, Monroe-Woodbury High School, Pine Bush High School, Cornwall Central High School, and James I. O’Neill High School in Highland Falls.

Art submissions were from scholars in Ms. Nicole Mischo's AP Studio Art class. These works will ultimately be submitted in their AP art portfolios.

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!