{"id":120424,"date":"2026-02-02T19:47:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T19:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120424\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T19:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T19:47:30","slug":"painting-a-brighter-future-actor-michael-rainey-jr-crayola-team-up-for-arts-at-staten-island-school-30-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120424\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting a brighter future: Actor Michael Rainey Jr., Crayola team up for arts at Staten Island school (30+ photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2013 As part of its annual Global Crayola Creativity Week<\/a>, the iconic art supply brand partnered last Thursday with Staten Island native and actor Michael Rainey Jr. to inspire students at PS 57 in Clifton, presenting the school with a $1,000 donation in art supplies.<\/p>\n

The week-long initiative, which celebrates creativity in classrooms worldwide, reached more than 20 million students across all 50 states and 146 countries, according to Crayola.<\/p>\n

Rainey Jr., 25, is best known for his role as Tariq St. Patrick on the Starz hit series \u201cPower\u201d and its spin-offs \u2014 a franchise whose target audience skews considerably older than the fourth and fifth-graders packed into the school auditorium. Even so, the actor was uncertain whether the students would be more excited to see him or Blizzard Blue, Crayola\u2019s voiceless, dancing mascot.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelStaten Island-grown actor Michael Rainey Jr. poses with Crayola mascot Blizzard Blue at P.S. 57 The Hubert H. Humphrey School in Clifton as Crayola partners with for a day of creativity, surprise and inspiration to students as part of Global Crayola Creative Week. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon<\/p>\n

Judging by the cheers inside PS 57, it was a tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure they probably see the show when their parents are watching,\u201d Rainey Jr. joked, noting that his ties to the neighborhood run deep. His father grew up in the Park Hill Apartments located just across the street from the school. \u201cTo team up with Crayola is dope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crayola representatives said the visit underscored the brand\u2019s broader mission to promote creativity as an essential life skill.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrayola is working hard to make sure everyone understands the importance of creativity and how it can help kids with things like problem-solving, building relationships and confidence,\u201d said Kailee Baylor. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to celebrate the incredible work the educators are doing here at PS 57 to encourage every student in this school to be creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelThe week-long initiative, which celebrates creativity in classrooms worldwide, reached more than 20 million students across all 50 states and 146 countries, according to Crayola.Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon<\/p>\n

In addition to the art-focused programming, Rainey Jr. also participated in a financial literacy presentation alongside MFS Investment Management, an official sponsor of Creativity Week 2026. MFS contributed an additional $2,500 to help expand PS 57\u2019s financial literacy curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt MFS, we believe in creating value not just for our clients but for the communities we serve,\u201d said spokesman Tom Schmitt. \u201cSupporting initiatives like Crayola Creativity Week reflects our deep commitment to making a meaningful difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

PS 57 Principal Karyn Singleton praised the partnership, emphasizing the lasting impact the donations and programming will have on students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very thankful for this generous donation and the opportunities it will create for our students,\u201d Singleton said. \u201cThis support will continue to allow our children to experience new learning opportunities that they are excited about. Our students were fully engaged in the creativity aspect of today\u2019s presentation as well as the importance of financial literacy. We are so grateful to Michael Rainey Jr. for selecting our school for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelStaten Island-grown actor Michael Rainey Jr. and Crayola partner for a day of creativity, surprise and inspiration to students at P.S. 57 The Hubert H. Humphrey School in Clifton as part of Global Crayola Creative Week. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon<\/p>\n

For Rainey Jr., the visit offered a chance to give back to the borough that helped shape him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just inspiring helping the kids, putting smiles on their faces, giving them a chance to show off their creativity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing, and I\u2019m just happy to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2013 As part of its annual Global Crayola Creativity Week, the iconic art supply brand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-120424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}