THANK YOU, ROY & OUR COMMUNITY
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This year’s Spring in the Heights event was of special importance as the 187 community joined together to create a beautiful tribute to Ms. Donetta, alongside our very special guest, her husband Roy. Thank you to everyone who helped place sticker dots throughout the garden path for the installation inspired by one of Ms. Donetta’s favorite artists, Yayoi Kusama. This was a joyful activity that so many visitors of all ages enjoyed, and it helped us capture the spirit of the colorful life Ms. Donetta led. We will miss her and her contributions to the arts at our school and in our neighborhood.
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Ms. Donetta x Kusama
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Ms. Donetta's MemorialLast night, members of Friends of 187 got to witness the deeply moving evening celebrating the extraordinarily joyful life of Ms. Donetta. ❤️ We are so grateful to her husband, Roy, family and friends for organizing such a special tribute for the whole community to attend. The love in the room was beyond palpable. It’s true what everyone said: Ms. Donetta would have loved to see the kids running around, getting their faces painted, their caricatures rendered and their balloons made. 🎈 It was like she was in the room making all the kids’ dreams come true, just like she did for so many years in our neighborhood and beyond.
Friends of 187 was honored to be included and board member Valentina Spalten said a few words as just a small, initial token of thanks to Roy and all those who have donated to Friends of 187 in Ms. Donetta’s name so that the arts can continue to thrive at PS/IS 187. We promise to make you proud, Ms. Donetta, and spread joy through art and music, as you did throughout your incredible life and career. You will live on in our hearts, paintings and songs! 🌈 Friends of 187 will be paying tribute to Ms. Donetta with an interactive art-related activity open to all in the community at Spring in the Heights on Saturday, May 4th. Please stay tuned for details. 🌸 Friends of 187 April 9th, 2024 |
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Donetta Riley
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Join us as we honor the bright, colorful, authentically creative life of our beloved Donetta Riley, an absolute community gem, known by thousands of families across the city and especially here in Washington Heights and Inwood for her Arts and Music classes, her joy-bringing kids party entertainment and her wonderful loving spirit and generosity.
Please come as your authentic self: Bright, outrageous or formal, all are welcome! Please RSVP to [email protected]
Children are welcome! Donetta’s many artistic friends will be bringing Joy to all, in the spirit of Donetta, via face paint, balloon twisting, craft table, caricatures and more.
Everyone, including children, are welcome to bring photos or artwork to display for the duration of the event. Please be sure to take your artwork or photos home with you or you can leave them to be incorporated into a memory book.
In Lieu of flowers, her loving partner Roy asks for donations can be made to these organizations that Donetta supported:
Please come as your authentic self: Bright, outrageous or formal, all are welcome! Please RSVP to [email protected]
Children are welcome! Donetta’s many artistic friends will be bringing Joy to all, in the spirit of Donetta, via face paint, balloon twisting, craft table, caricatures and more.
Everyone, including children, are welcome to bring photos or artwork to display for the duration of the event. Please be sure to take your artwork or photos home with you or you can leave them to be incorporated into a memory book.
In Lieu of flowers, her loving partner Roy asks for donations can be made to these organizations that Donetta supported:
Remembering Ms. Donetta Riley
Ms. Donetta in the PS/IS 187 School Garden during Spring in the Heights, May 2022, with artwork made by her students.
With profound sadness, Friends of 187 joins the entire PS/IS 187 community in mourning our neighborhood gem, Ms. Donetta Riley, who passed away on March 20th after a valiant battle with cancer. We extend our deepest condolences to her husband, Roy, and loving family and friends. Whether you knew her from exuberant music and art classes, or from memorable birthday parties showcasing her incredible face painting and balloon artistry, Ms. Donetta lit up the lives of everyone she encountered, often starting from when many of our children were just babies. She brought a smile to the faces of everyone in her midst and devoted her life and career to the creative soul of childhood. Like so many, we will miss Ms. Donetta tremendously. Today, we honor her extraordinary contributions to the arts in our school community and neighborhood. We are so grateful for her commitment to the belief that the joy of art and music should be shared by all.
Ms. Donetta supported Friends of 187 fundraising efforts at every opportunity; she was so generous and full of artistic vim. She created balloon animals at events like Spring in the Heights, bringing her air tank and supplies in her trademark wheelie cart. Her line was always the longest, and she'd keep the line open long after she'd intended to stop. She would just keep extending it, not wanting to disappoint any of her little friends and fans. She would set out a donation bucket and squabble with us over it every time, insisting that the money go back into programming in the school rather than to her as a thank you for her generosity of spirit and abundance of talent.
Ms. Donetta played an immense role in art education at 187, when the school didn't even have an art teacher. She taught art to elementary students, even throughout the pandemic, and she used to be involved in the kindergarten social when it was held at Hudson View Gardens every fall. While parents were occupied with our presentation, she would provide engaging art activities for incoming kindergarteners: a huge help so that we could share our message broadly without distraction. Board member Nori Kuriyama remembers fondly: “My favorite class that she taught at 187 was when kids would go under their desks and draw pictures as if they were Michelangelo. She was giving kids an opportunity to experience what it must have been like for Michelangelo to work on the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. She would also go under the desk and do the same, and it was so amazing to witness the kids experience the full joy of making art in the classroom with her.”
We feel so lucky that we could share the full joy of Donetta Riley with so many students. Her contributions to our school - and specifically to Friends of 187 - will never be forgotten. Please stay tuned for announcements about a memorial and ways in which we will honor Donetta’s life.
Friends of 187 Board Members
Ms. Donetta supported Friends of 187 fundraising efforts at every opportunity; she was so generous and full of artistic vim. She created balloon animals at events like Spring in the Heights, bringing her air tank and supplies in her trademark wheelie cart. Her line was always the longest, and she'd keep the line open long after she'd intended to stop. She would just keep extending it, not wanting to disappoint any of her little friends and fans. She would set out a donation bucket and squabble with us over it every time, insisting that the money go back into programming in the school rather than to her as a thank you for her generosity of spirit and abundance of talent.
Ms. Donetta played an immense role in art education at 187, when the school didn't even have an art teacher. She taught art to elementary students, even throughout the pandemic, and she used to be involved in the kindergarten social when it was held at Hudson View Gardens every fall. While parents were occupied with our presentation, she would provide engaging art activities for incoming kindergarteners: a huge help so that we could share our message broadly without distraction. Board member Nori Kuriyama remembers fondly: “My favorite class that she taught at 187 was when kids would go under their desks and draw pictures as if they were Michelangelo. She was giving kids an opportunity to experience what it must have been like for Michelangelo to work on the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. She would also go under the desk and do the same, and it was so amazing to witness the kids experience the full joy of making art in the classroom with her.”
We feel so lucky that we could share the full joy of Donetta Riley with so many students. Her contributions to our school - and specifically to Friends of 187 - will never be forgotten. Please stay tuned for announcements about a memorial and ways in which we will honor Donetta’s life.
Friends of 187 Board Members
Ms. Donetta's Art Class
Ms. Donetta Riley, a singer, actor, and improviser, holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Arts, with an emphasis in teaching from the University of Louisville.
She teaches the ART Masters program at PS/IS 187 and also is the owner of Kids Fun Parties.
She facepaints, balloon twists and does competitive body painting, turning grownups into Sci-Fi creatures.
https://www.citykidsmusic.com/
http://kidsfunparties.com/
She teaches the ART Masters program at PS/IS 187 and also is the owner of Kids Fun Parties.
She facepaints, balloon twists and does competitive body painting, turning grownups into Sci-Fi creatures.
https://www.citykidsmusic.com/
http://kidsfunparties.com/
