Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Sue Silverstein, the art and community teacher at Bishop Gibbons High School,  is one of the most admirable and remarkable humans I know. Instead of writing about her and her lucky art students every week, I decided to let her do it weekly. I invited her to write a column about the donations she’s received and the students she has inspired right here.

Starting Monday, she’ll become the second person besides me to have a column on Bedlamfarm.com (Maria was the first). Watching Sue’s artwork with the young explode is a joy for me, for Maria, and for many of our readers. It lifts the heart.

Thanks to the weekly donations from the Army Of Good, Sue has been able to create an exceptional art program for her students. She’s eager to share the impact of these donations and the progress of her students with you. Your support is truly making an enormous difference.

Sue moved from Bishop McGinn to Bishop Gibbons last year. It’s a longer trek, and I’m swamped with other work.

Maria and I plan to visit Sue and her students at least once a month, and I will continue writing about them,  but she and I would like the donors of the work that makes her artwork possible on the blog every week. I’m very excited about this, and she is too. She will be posting her column weekly to give the good people who send her materials a look at what their generosity has accomplished.

Every work of art her students create comes from recycled and discarded materials lying around in drawers, garages, attics, and basements, which were sent by blog readers.

Her inspiring art has pulled young people off social media and into her magical classroom. She’ll tell you all about it, and so will I. Meeting Sue and becoming a friend is one of the best experiences of my life.

She is a fantastic teacher. In a time when many schools are dropping their art classes to save money, she has re-imagined art instruction in a visible and almost shockingly exciting way. I love praising her and her work, but she loves doing that, too, and she can describe it better than I can. I am proud to have my great Sue, a regular contributor to Bedlamfarm.com, which I am always looking to expand and improve.

I rarely give this space away to anyone but me. I’m happy to do it with Sue. She is the best person I know from my Willa Cather, wife.

Sue’s first column will appear here next Monday. Sue has helped thousands of young people, including recently arrived refugees from all over the world, achieve their ambitions and potential. She is a saint waiting for anointment. I’m happy she’ll be writing here and sharing the remarkable experience that is her art project.

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