Be You!

Colette Hardy

I am a mixed media artist. I am also a recently retired middle school art educator. I taught art grades 5-7 on Long Island, NY, at the same middle school, in the same art room, for the past 30 years. It was the most rewarding 30 years of my creative life. My passion for art and creating everyday allowed me to inspire my students and encourage them to appreciate the visual arts. It was so rewarding to watch the children use their imaginations to create their own happiness in the art room and create individual works of art that expressed their creativity and individuality. Creating through a variety of techniques and mediums and creating while learning about various art movements and various artists throughout history is the key to a well rounded art education. It was an amazing thirty years making art with so many children everyday. As much as I inspired them, they too were an inspiration to me as an artist through the years. I was also one of 50 artists selected to bring the 2019 Sing for Hope Pianos to life in NYC! I spent many days working in the SFH shared studio space at 28 Liberty and my piano titled "Peace, Love, and Hope" was placed at Brooklyn Bridge Park. It was an amazing experience for everyone who participated in this amazing public art display of pianos throughout NYC and even more amazing for all to enjoy music and art in public spaces. Following the public art display my piano was donated to : Brooklyn’s Daily Discovery Pre-K Center (60th Street) Brooklyn, NY. I am very much looking forward to continuing my mixed media art lifestyle creating art everyday as a retired art educator. Sharing my art, my creative art process, and creating art for myself and others to experience. I was thrilled to receive an email regarding this upcoming opportunity to apply for this exciting Sing for Hope piano project. After being selected to be a Sing for Hope piano artist in 2019 I was truly so happy to be part of such a wonderful public art project. Working with the other artists and the Sing for Hope team was amazing but I was really so engaged and moved by the outpouring of community created by the pianos in their public art spaces. Bringing together people in the community using the visual and performing arts is a very motivating and inspiring experience. I would love to participate again to be a part of creating a work of art for so many to enjoy!