Rackham Graduate School - University of Michigan

But perhaps her true art, or calling,is beautifying people’s lives byenabling them to do their own art,whether by teaching urban childrenin their schools or immersing herselfin the Lower Cass Corridorproject in Detroit. As one of thefew painters working on the project,her plan is to use the abandonedbuildings in the neighborhoodto create temporary art installationsas a window series of paintings.By involving residents in thedesign and implementation of theinstallations, for example, by usingtheir own patterns of clothes andfaces, she wants to help them createa “neighborhood board quilt”that will immediately beautify thearea, uplift spirits, and develop agreater sense of ownership andpride in the community.What she calls “a neighborhoodboard quilt” is a variation on hertheme for the summer of 1998,when she worked with kids — inNewark, Brooklyn, and Ann Arbor— to create neighborhood canvasquilts of their self-portraits. Lastsummer, she taught teens at theAnn Arbor Art Center, free-lancedfor Martha Stewart Living magazineand did missionary work inHungary for the Assemblies of Godchurch. For two of her years atCooper Union, she commutedevery Saturday to the Bronx to, yes,teach art to children.Her art, her community activities,and her faith are interwovenfor Amstelveen. “There’s this chapterin Isaiah that talks about providingthe wanderer with shelter,clothing the naked, looseningchains and cords when people areunder oppression, and your lightshall rise in the darkness,” she says.“When I go to Newark or ConeyIsland, I could paint beautifulthings on the outside, but if I canaffect that life, allow them to seebeauty through art, then that’s whatI want to do.” ■Photo by Yvette Amstelveen2 Timothy 2:20in the Private Collection of John WoodfordPhoto by Yvette Amstelveen13