MOMA to Screen JJHS Art Teacher's Documentary

A John Jay High School art teacher's documentary about the changing landscape of Brooklyn will be screened next month in an international non-fiction film festival at the Museum of Modern Art.

Diane Nerwen's documentary "Open House" will be shown from 4 p.m.-7p.m. on March 3 at the close of "Documentary Fortnight."

High school Principal Ellen Doherty praised Nerwen's work in a recent release.

"John Jay is enriched beyond measure by Diane's presence here," she said. "It is an extraordinary thing for our young, ambitious high school art students to have an opportunity to study with a practicing artist—especially one as gifted as Diane."

The film chronicles the building boom that has transformed Brooklyn's crumbling, industrial waterfront into a destination for high-rise luxury buildings. Focusing on the Williamsburg neighborhood, Nerwen compares the changes to Robert Moses' slum clearance of the 1960s.

"Showing my work at the Museum of Modern Art is certainly a milestone in my career as an artist and teacher. I think every teacher hopes to be a role model, so this is exciting to share with my students. I have worked hard to manage a balance between my teaching and creative work in my 15 years at John Jay," said Nerwen, an accomplished video artist whose previous work has been shown in such venues as the Berlin Film Festival and at the Tate Modern in London.

"One often inspires the other," she said, "and I continue to learn a great deal from my students."

For more information about the festival, which runs from runs from Feb. 17 - March 3, including the full program and video trailers of all the work in the show, please visit here.