Apr 23, 2015 2 min read CAMBA Adult Literacy Center

Artist Tim Okamura Donates Prints For Permanent Exhibit At CAMBA’s Adult Literacy Center

Artist Tim Okamura, center, is pictured with Adult Literacy Center students Moussa Barry , left, and Stanley Amazan next to a print of "Her Story." Photo courtesy CAMBA — Artist Tim Okamura, center, is pictured with Adult Literacy Center students Moussa Barry , left, and Stanley Amazan next to a print of “Her Story.” Photo courtesy CAMBA

CAMBA, a local nonprofit based at 1720 Church Avenue, is always a beautiful place — a safe haven for everyone from neighbors who need food from the emergency pantry to new immigrants wanting to learn English, among many others. But, this week, CAMBA was transformed into an even prettier place, its walls now exploding with the colors of artist Tim Okamura’s prints.

CAMBA and the visual art nonprofit, Art Connects New York, teamed up to organize the permanent exhibition, “Brooklyn Lives: Selected Prints. The Art of Tim Okamura,” for the CAMBA Adult Literacy Center. An independent curator, Dexter Wimberly, curated this permanent exhibition, which debuted Tuesday evening, exclusively for the center.

Tim Okamura's work "Harmony in Black and White," via Tim Okamura. — Tim Okamura’s work “Harmony in Black and White,” via Tim Okamura.

“His compelling portraits will beautify the CAMBA Adult Literacy Center, reflect CAMBA’s diverse constituency, and instill confidence in adult students who are striving to create a better life for themselves and their families,” CAMBA said in a press release.

The literacy center serves individuals at all learning stages, from those who don’t speak English and are not literate in their native language to those seeking a high school equivalency diploma as a step towards pursuing a college education and career. In 2014, the center served more than 1,000 adult students.

CAMBA students said the transformation of the literacy center has more than inspired them.

“This makes me feel proud,” Stanley Amazan, a native of Haiti who’s learning English at the center, said.

For Moussa Barry, another student at the center, his favorite print was “Her Story,” featuring four women.

“It reminds me of Africa,” he said of his home continent.