New art academy up and running in Porterville

Since Monday, 30 local Porterville migrant students have an option to develop their creativity.

It has to do with the launch of the Academia Juvenil de Arte y Cultura (Juvenile Academy of Art and Culture), which, for the next five weeks, is offering a workshop of visual arts which includes painting, engraving, illustrations and free sessions.

“This idea is directed as a prevention program; as an alternative to things such as gangs,” Roberto de la Rosa Jr., director of the academy, said.

“The criticism we are receiving as a Latino community is that we aren’t doing enough for our young people,” de la Rosa said. “We are now responding to that need.”

The academy was born as a non-incorporated association that will function under the sponsorship of a fiscal agent. The sponsor is O.L.A. Raza, a center for immigrants’ rights whose officials believed in the project and decided to finance it.

“Everything started as something informal. Roberto (de la Rosa Jr.) always felt that there weren’t enough creative spots in the city. With the academy we will help in that sense and we will open that experience, especially in the field of the arts,” said Gabriela Santos, academy coordinator and visual artist graduate from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma of México (UNAM). “The truth is that it wasn’t going to happen because we needed space and funding, but O.L.A. Raza gave us the financial support to initiate this pilot program.”

The academy will have professional artists as part of the staff.

Teachers and visual artists Susana Bautista Ramiro and Adriana García, also graduates from the UNAM, come from México to be a part of the teaching staff.

“For my part it’s a really good idea to collaborate with the migrant people; show them what I know, like engraving and bookbinding,” Bautista said, “It’s a way to actively collaborate.”

For this pilot program, the space is limited to 30 students, from 8 to 13 years of age, with the objective of being able to better focus on them, de la Rosa said. The cost for the class is $150.

Organizers said they are looking for a way to offer scholarships to students so they can attend the workshop at no cost or at a reduced price.
To date, organizers have received $500 in scholarhip money, O.L.A. Raza’s Roberto de la Rosa Sr.

“More is needed,” de la Rosa Sr. said. “We still have space available — we’re going for 30 children — and we need a minimum of $2,500 to $3,000 to help make it affordable for the families”

For this, the director of the academy is inviting the members of the community to donate and help give the local migrant youth the opportunity to experience art at the same time that they get closer to their culture.

The workshop will give the youth an opportunity to expand their creativity, Santos said.

“You can propose an idea but at the end you let them decide for themselves,” she said.

The academy has developed a curriculum categorized by themes, purpose, development, strategies, resources and evaluations. For instance, in a session, the students will identify certain colors that, when mixed together, produce a secondary color; on another day, the students will do some contrast exercises based on geometric shapes, everything under the teachers’ supervision.

At other times, the instructors will stimulate the students so they can work on their own art pieces so they can put into practice what they learned.

“We will be talking about engraving, the different types of engravings, the process implied on this discipline and then they will have the freedom to work on whatever they like,” Bautista said.

For her part, García expressed satisfaction for the opportunity to participate in a project like this.

“I know that the kids need to learn about their roots; where their families come from,” García said. “I believe in the project; I think it is necessary and requires a lot of commitment.”

The workshop started July 7 and will end Aug. 9 with an exhibition of the students’ work. It will take place Monday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. in the Centro Comunitario of the Comisión Honorífica Mexicana Americana.

At the end, students will do a community mural under the direction of local artist Víctor Cervantes, special guest of the academy.

De la Rosa said he expects to see a good response from the community and emphasized that this academy was created as an alternative to help the youth and keep them away from criminal activities.

“If this works, we want to do it every year,” Santos said. “We want it to be an eye-opener experience.”

There are still some spots available and they will be taking students until full capacity.

For those interested in obtaining more information or to make donations for scholarships, can call Roberto de la Rosa Jr. or Gabriela Santos, 791-0950, or write to gabriela.santos@olaraza.com. For English, call 784-1121.

-- Contact Miguel Ángel Báez at 784-5000, Ext. 1039.