Newburgh Free Academy West campus students have decorated Liberty Street in the City of Newburgh with hand painted window designs for the Christmas season in several local storefronts. Designs are on display at Newburgh Brewing Company, the Wherehouse and Hendley & Co throughout the holidays.

NFA West students gathered on Thursday, December 7 on Liberty Street and first painted the windows of the Wherehouse, located at 119 Liberty St, with Christmas decorations and classic Christmas characters rocking out. Wherehouse owners Dan Brown and Michele Basch were thankful for the handmade artwork and enjoyed seeing the students having fun with their creativity.

“This is lasting, you’re bonding with the people that have businesses, you’re ingratiating yourself to community, you’re bonding with your classmates and you’re creating something that people can enjoy,” said Brown. “Hopefully, you know, some of the students that were here, perhaps their parents will come visit Liberty Street.” “This is truly a festivity for the young people and everyone in the City of Newburgh and this highlights what NFA can do for the kids,” said Basch.

Once done at the Wherehouse, across the street at Hendley & Co, owned by Jessica Lynn Williams, an outdoor winter wonderland design with snowmen and colorful birds filled the space in the windows.

“We’re all in need of a little holiday cheer, and nothing better than having a bunch of kids filling our space and helping us to just welcome the season. They [the students] brought such joy this morning to our office, which is otherwise pretty quiet,” said Williams. “This was an idea that was pretty short notice I would say, so the fact that we pulled this off was, you know, a Christmas miracle.”

According to Williams, the collaboration between the district and the Liberty Street businesses came about through a previous discussion between other businesses on the block that wanted to have the local student population more engaged in the Newburgh business community. With the success of the painting day, the alliance of businesses looks to more student collaborations through engagement opportunities, providing workshops or providing employment and internship opportunities in the future.

The last project to be completed for the afternoon was the Newburgh Brewing Company’s taproom windows. While painting at one of the previous work sites, Ashley Gomez recalled the joy on people’s faces when they saw the work the students were doing. “While we were painting, people came by and took pictures, and they were really excited and really happy,” said Gomez.

Daniela Bustillo, who was already familiar with the brewery as her parents had worked there at some point, already anticipates her parents beaming that their daughter worked and made colorful art pieces. “I feel very happy to have like this opportunity,” said Bustillo.

Along the lit taproom windows were various Christmas trees and decorations, the famous Eggbert, the brewery logo and other designs from the actual drink cans. Students were given their instructions from their teachers and took to the windows to paint.

Gabrielle Swartz, who grew up near the Devitt’s Nursery & Supply, remembers the annual Eggbert display growing up, so she was hopeful that she could work on the Eggbert design prepared on the brewery window. “It’s like a treasured memory of mine so I just like really want to do that,” she said. “I’ve always loved painting. So this is amazing for me.”

For Alana Herrera, she was hoping to work on the robot design painted in the taproom window.“I’m not the best at art, but I think it’s really fun and I’ve been enjoying it,” she said. “I think it’s really cool that we get to express ourselves in the community.”

Growing up in Newburgh, Isabella Olwell appreciates the ability to connect with her greater community and area through the work and activities, like the window painting, that NFA West fosters and encourages. “I’ve lived here all my life and going to all these different places that I haven’t been or maybe I just saw and be like, oh, that’s just a building, but then actually like learning about it, it’s so interesting. And I think that’s great,” said Olwell.

Paul Halayko, one of the co-owners of the Newburgh Brewing Company, was happy to see local students in the taproom having fun and decorating the space with holiday cheer. The spotlight on the overall event goes to the art department and students of NFA West.

“Any chance the brewery can be in any way part of the community, particularly the community of younger people that are here in Newburgh, we’re always very eager to be able to do so and for us, it’s a win win,” said Halayko. “We’re getting to help support NFA West and the amazing programs they have there. All these creative kids who are having an outlet for beautiful creativity, exceptional talent being displayed while at the same time we’re getting our windows beautifully decorated for the holiday season, making our Taproom here that much more festive and inviting for people. These are kids that many of which hopefully have incredible futures ahead of them, maybe in the arts.”