art/vision/voice - Maryland Institute College of Art

cap students should consider making
concessions and not impose their views of
what’s important upon their young
participants. Ask the students what they want
to do in art. A menu of possible projects such
as masks, puppets, quilts, abstract art,
drawing, collages, designing a city, a
community, is a great idea. Ask the participants
what they would enjoy—and they will tell you!
If You Build It, They Will Come—Not Always!
There are so few positive youth activities in
most under-served neighborhoods that when
activities designed for them are made
available, young people will usually come to
investigate. But they need to have a sense of
ownership in new programs and to feel good
about their participation, or they will not
come. Although you must create program
goals, and set high expectations for the
completion of projects children feel good
about, fun also needs to be integrated into
learning; young participants require lots of
activity, and they need their imagination bank
filled and challenged—or they will back out
on the program and simply not come. You can
have a tremendous program, great supplies,
unlimited resources, even a good staff, but if
the projects are not interesting or stimulating,
the participants will not come.
You expect them to show up—and they need
to know you will be there for them. Holidays,
special vacations, professional meetings
should be clearly announced ahead of time,
and there should be a schedule so students
know when the program is in operation.
Superheros, Trash, Treasure—and Cultural
Misconceptions
There is so much energy from kids around
mythical superheroes. Superheroes are strong,
fearless, bold, and aggressive. They champion
commentary, analysis, response 121
good causes, are fighters, risk takers, smart,
have muscles, and are attractive to the opposite
sex—all things that kids imagine themselves
to be. No wonder the Banner youth were
excited to create superheroes and have them
protect their community! This is a high-energy
project and could be expanded in many ways—
with a story, with additional heroes.
On the other hand, students in low-income
communities live with illegal trash dumping
every day. Found-object artwork, particularly
in the trash, is an abomination to kids who
know the danger of trash—needles used for
drugs, razor blades, broken bottles. This age
group also doesn’t like to get dirty, which is
reinforced by parents warning them not to get
their clothes messed up, and this, coupled
with peer pressure to look nice among your
friends, means young people more often opt
to be well groomed than not to be. One
person’s trash may be another person’s
treasure, but in most communities where our
children reside, art from found objects may
not go over very well. Style, appearance,
cleanliness is important to pre- and early
teens. Community artists should plan
activities with that in mind.
Reaching Consensus, Parents, and Community
The final celebration of the Art Club was
exciting, however, the cap program needed to
rely on their community partners in the
Banner Neighborhood to involve the parents
of the children in the big display of the
children’s art. It is not easy to involve parents,
even though we understand that children will
develop much faster and more productively
when the parents not only are involved with
their children, but are growing and developing
themselves. Parent-program relations are vital,
however, and program organizers should ask
themselves what they really want parents to
do, and find meaningful ways to involve parents.