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Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
GHS artists give the gift of art
Outreach touches lives of suffering children
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Galt High School art teacher Amanda Johnson recognized some of her brightest and best art students at a recent Galt City Council meeting, as part of an ongoing art outreach component Johnson has incorporated into her classroom. Pictured with Johnson and GJUHSD Board President Norman Pearson are art students Bryan Jenks, Kelly Langan and Sasha Harris who will have their art shown on display through May 16 at the Sacramento County Offices of Education as part of the Youth Art Month celebration.
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By Rachael Ackerman
Herald Editor
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Although sometimes quietly hidden away creating their own unique and creative magic on campus, students of the Galt High School art program reached out to the world this year, becoming visible agents for the art of charity through the charity of art.
Thanks to the interest of GHS art teacher Amanda Johnson, Galt art students had a chance to first create personal pieces of artwork, and then send them overseas to aid in making the lives of suffering children just a little bit better.
It was an Internet search that led Johnson to an international art outreach program called “The Memory Project” which was then conveniently connected to another international student art outreach called “Books of Hope.”
Through the Memory Project, Johnson’s more advanced art students were given the opportunity to create original portraits for children in Guatemalan orphanages who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused or neglected. Each student received a picture of a child and worked in class to create the portraits. Once finished, the portraits were delivered to the children along with an invitation to create art, or to send letters back to the students at GHS.
“There are three fundamental purposes of the Memory Project,” said Johnson. “First, given that children who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused or neglected usually have few keepsakes, the purpose of the portraits is to provide them with a special memory of their youth, to honor their heritage and identity, and to help them build a positive self-image.”
Johnson said the second goal for the program is to engage the art student in the gift of art.
“This is an opportunity to open their hearts to children who have endured many hardships, and to promote the value of sharing kindness with others,” said Johnson.
The third component of the program is the lasting edge.
“By inviting the children who receive portraits to make drawings for the art students, we intend to create a meaningful exchange of artistic expression between young people across international boundaries,” said Johnson. “Considering the world today, it is hopeful to watch young people reach out to each other.”
For many of the art students who participated in the Memory Project, it was an eye-opening first in giving their art as a gift of charity.
“Every time I looked at my picture, I knew there was something special about the child I had received,” said Art II student Kailee Santiago. “We got to know what children are and then create something realistic for them, something to show her she is beautiful, and then a background that suited that child as well. We just all knew we had to do something special.”
Fellow student Jorge Torres shared similar feelings about being a Memory Project artist.
“I knew I was doing something for someone who has nothing,” said Torres. “I knew I was doing right and it feels great.”
Art II student Lynette Pina saw the Memory Project as a way to share art in a new way.
This art is different, it is being used for different purposes,” said Pina. “This is not for show or for galleries. This is for someone who has nothing. It is personal.”
For Johnson’s Art I students, lessons they learned in shape, line and form were used to create the “Books of Hope.”
Also an international outreach program, for this project Johnson took the Books of Hope program and applied the talents of her art students to meet some of their primary goals.
A program designed for American students to help create support materials for U.S. sponsored schools and classrooms overseas, Johnson asked her Art I class to create, illustrate and bind a series of “how to” beginning art books for the children of schools in Uganda.
“Books of Hope is an ideal way to incorporate service into practically any unit of any classroom at any level,” said Johnson. “The program encourages kids to create books about science, math, geography, art and a whole variety of topics.”
In this case, books on how to get started in art will reach the hands of eager learners who flock to the safety of American schools in war-torn Uganda.
“Student responses to these projects were amazing, and many of them went above and beyond what was asked of them,” said Johnson. “After the students learned about their peers in Uganda and Guatemala, they really seemed to take a step back and see the bigger picture and want to do something for those less fortunate than we are.”
Aware of the plight of Ugandan children who must flee their homes and travel through the night to avoid being kidnapped by rebel armies and forced into becoming children soldiers, Art I student Albert Sandoval said he put an extra touch of care into his work.
“I was just hoping it would be good enough to be a gift,” said Sandoval. “I felt so bad for them, having to travel, stay huddled up and watch out for each other.”
And for Art I student Mike Hill the connection to helping others was very important.
“I didn’t want to do this just for a grade,” said Hill. “I worked really hard to make it as neat as possible to help someone out.”
Per Johnson, projects like Books of Hope and the Memory Project are vital not only for student education, but also for their personal growth, giving the vehicle to act on the inspiration to give when the moment strikes.
“It is easier to live life in a bubble and not recognize what is going on in other places in the world,” said Johnson. “When students learn about the suffering and struggles of others in our country, and around the world, and feel a desire to help it, it can be difficult to find a means to actually do something. These projects give students incredible opportunities to be able to contribute and have meaningful experiences helping others, while also creating art.”
Aiming her students at not only being the best artists they can become, Johnson hopes to teach her students that through their art they can become agents of the changes they would like to see in the world.
“I believe 100 percent that art can be a powerful bond between people of all ages, backgrounds, experiences and cultures,” said Johnson, who said she firmly believes in Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of being the change you wish to see in the world. “I strive to provide opportunities to be the change. The goals of these programs is to foster empathy and social responsibility in American students by providing an effective way for them to learn about and make a difference in the lives of children facing war, poverty, disease, and slavery around the world, and I wholeheartedly and proudly can say that this has happened.”
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