The latest crop of superheroes to hit the Bronx won’t all come from the box office this summer.

A stop by the bare corner in front of the recreation center at St. James Park reveals a lunch table chock full of brand new neighborhood superheroes created by students from MS 399 in Fordham on East 184th Street.

There is no Hulk or Dark Knight. Instead, “Mr. Justice” dispenses justice against evildoers. And “Power Mother” wields the weapon of raising her three daughters, the “Super Love Girls.”

The students’ superhero artwork, titled “The New Bronx Generation Fights to Reclaim Their Streets From the Evil Powers of Violence” appears on a standard lunchroom table as part of “A View From the Lunchroom,” a project of the non-profit Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LEAP). It’s being publicly shown in parks like St. James in cooperation with the Parks Department.

Ten tables installed across the five boroughs this summer make up the largest student art exhibition in the history of New York City parks, according to Alexandra Leff, deputy director of LEAP.

Leff says the lunch table “was chosen as the canvas of this program because it’s the forum for student conversations.”

LEAP’s project, the first it’s ever made public, seeks to make those conversations available to the masses, or at least park goers.

Supervising artist Sam Osheroff worked with 27 English language learners at MS 399 over the course of eight weeks, culminating with the students’ creative effort.

“What superpowers would you use to fight violence?” Osheroff recalls asking near the start of the project.

“Dog food,” one of his students responded.

“Uh-oh,” Osheroff remembers thinking, “maybe they’re not getting this concept.” Then his student went on to explain. If you could throw dog food at a monster, they reasoned, it would stop to eat it, and you could catch it with a net.

“That’s when I realized these kids were way ahead of me,” Osheroff says.

Osheroff, who works at several public schools, was not at MS 399 when he learned the students’ final project had been completely destroyed by vandals (a group of MS 399 students) days after its completion at the end of May, just two days before it was to be shown publicly.

Donald Long, the MS 399 art teacher who worked with Osheroff, says school administrators granted him two solid days with the students and a new lunch table to reconstruct the project.

“Because they were all so supportive, we were able to recreate the table, better than ever,” says Long. They also finished in time for the opening.

The entire process was mutually beneficial.

“[When] you work in arts education, you’re never sure of the impact you’re making,” says Osheroff. “This was one instance where you could really see it. These kids got a lot out of it. They were so proud of themselves by the end of it.”

Long sees additional benefits as well. “These students have limited English language abilities and they really don’t connect a lot to the school outside of their families,” she said. What’s nice is they actually got to represent the school, to see what the city has to offer and feel somewhat embraced by the city as well.

LEAP is still assessing the feasibility of future projects at 399, but Long says he’s looking forward to the continuation of their ongoing involvement at MS 399.

 

Ed. note: The LEAP lunch table will be on display in St. James Park through August. After the exhibition ends, it will return to MS 399.