About
These paintings were created by Advanced Art students in grades 9 to 12 at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, in Newark, New Jersey. The paintings’ subject is bringing archaeological artifacts unearthed at Rutgers University-Newark back to life by imagining how these everyday objects were used by the 19th century families who lived in the area of the dig.
After a visit to the Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University-Newark to view, handle and learn about a wide array of artifacts, St. Benedict’s Prep Art students selected one artifact to “bring back to life.” If the artifact was broken or corroded, students researched similar objects that were intact so they would know how they looked back when they were in use. Students worked with 1 or 2 partners. Together they chose one of the buildings that were the sources of the artifacts (71 Halsey, 54 New Street, or 56 New Street) to create a cutaway of the facade that exposed the rooms inside. Students learned 1-point perspective so they could create a room with depth in which to insert furnishings from the era. Students researched dress and hair for the character they chose to “bring back to life” based on the record of the families who lived in those buildings. This became “historical fiction” as students devised family members and narratives that included the characters interacting with the artifacts.
The Honors Living and Learning Community is on the site of the archaeological dig and where the 19th century homes the students depicted were once located, so these student paintings close the circle on this slice of Newark history.
St. Benedict’s Preparatory School
St. Benedict’s Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey. Established in 1868, the school is guided by the sixth century Rule of Saint Benedict. This practice organizes the day into regular periods of communal and private prayer, sleep, spiritual reading, and communal labor. For more than 154 years, St. Benedict’s has served and educated students from the Greater Newark area. Initially this was the children of German and Irish immigrants in the late 19th century and today the school serves a multi-ethnic population with students representing all socioeconomic and faith backgrounds.
Rutgers University – Newark Artifact Collection
This artifact collection was excavated from an extensive digging project to support foundations for a new multi-story building on the Rutgers University – Newark campus. The project spanned three years and focused on a downtown city block in Newark (bounded by Washington, Linden, Halsey and New Streets). Historically this land was the site of homes, the Halsey Street Methodist Church and Cemetery, Newark High School (later Essex County Girls’ Vocational School), and various commercial properties.
The large majority of material objects excavated were recovered from privy fills on the residential properties. At the time, these privies served as outdoor refuse pits and as such proved to be a repository of the discarded objects of everyday life: broken dishes and decorative objects, personal effects, toiletries, soda and liquor bottles, animal bones (domesticated and vermin) and building materials. Research was done on the inhabitants of properties located on this block and offers context to some of the objects found at the residential privy sites. Highlights from the collection include medical objects and pharmaceutical bottles likely belonging to a Dr. James Elliott who resided at 56 New Street in the late 19th century. Several porcelain doll heads and figurines are thought to have belonged to children of the families residing at 54 and 56 New Street. Several ink bottles and a slate stylus and tablet fragment are thought to be related to Amos Holbrook, a private tutor residing at 71 Halsey St. in the mid 1820’s and offering instruction in subjects such as writing, arithmetic and music.
Participating artists
Kyara Teran, Ashley Valderrabano, Kymberli Davis, Lyvia Langhorne, Totemi Adeyinka, Ilar Colson, Maria Correia, Jose Valdes II, Sebastian Urbina, Felix Osei, Casper Pohto, Joshua Johnson, Ransford Gyan, Helayness Suriel, Tamara Scott, Zyon Walton, Christopher Williams, Justin Barrett, Pamela Llumitasig-Quintoa, Daicia Samuel, Madisyn Rivera-Gonzalez, Jaden Ramirez, Ronald Palmer, Brian Ramirez, Rebecca Cueva, Yasmin Da Cunha, Sheridan Yearns, Aubrey Williams, Julia Polo, Jimena Zoar Pastrana, Lindsay Palacios, Kayla Palmer.
