Ellen Priest Projects

Video: Ellen Priest Exhibition Edward Simon Jazz Performance "Venezuelan Suite" 2007 Berman Museum of Art

Project funding will support ongoing creative and business development with both Eyeball It!® and my own artwork.

Current educational project: Eyeball It!®

Eyeball It!® is a real studio art program for elementary school-age children (7-12), available free online at www.eyeballitart4kids.org and proven to work with young people in both group and individual settings.

Eyeball It!® is scalable, individualized, available by Internet, can be guided by any adult, and is completely free of any fees. 

Primary Objectives of the Eyeball It!® Initiative:

1)  Develop and offer a set of hands-on studio art Projects that, taken as a body of learning, will empower young people with the thinking, looking and technical skills to create their own art. Teaching creative thinking and problem-solving are key.  

2)  Deliver the program free to users via the Internet, eliminating financial and geographic impediments to its use.  Arts have too often been an asset of privilege.  To me, arts are a fundamental expression of being human – like language.

3)  Develop effective models for engaging the adults who can guide Eyeball It!® with young people, making it easy, compelling and fun for them. 

4)  Spreading awareness of Eyeball It!® out across many platforms and umbrella institutions, so that children truly have access to its benefits as widely as possible.

Plans for the next 2-4 years: 1) have the program translated into Spanish or create an ESL version, 2) continue to develop new projects, 3) build capacity locally and nationally.

Painting and drawing (l978 to present): 

Since 1990, Jazz and related Latin American and African music have been the subject matter for my paintings on layered, collaged paper. Since 2005 I have worked directly with jazz musician/composers, grounding my artwork more specifically in their music, both recorded and live.  http://www.ellenpriest.com 

Current goals include:

1) Find exhibition opportunities for “The River” Series (2016-2020), the Cuban Series (completed early 2016) and the “Jazz: Edward Simon’s ‘Venezuelan Suite’” Series (completed in 2010).  Continue seeking gallery representation in NYC and elsewhere.

2) Enhance my work’s online presence. My art is currently represented online by IdeelArt.com.  

3) Continue my new series “Jazz: Horace, Edward and Harry ‘Song for My Father’. A tribute to my own father.  Layered paintings and 3D relief collages.