05/07/08 @ 10:56:09 am by archivesadmin
By: Lauren Hodges
Anyone who attended public school likely took an art class every year throughout childhood. Though they provide an opportunity for creativity, not every student finds his or her hidden passion for the arts due to the academic environment.
“Kids who might not excel in school wouldn’t necessarily take an interest in art because it is a class,” Emily Colin says. Colin is the associate director of DREAMS, a nonprofit organization that introduces the arts to under-privileged youth. “When we present the arts after school as an activity, through the back door, [the students] begin to care about their talents.”
DREAMS has been getting children involved in local arts since 1996 with classes geared toward theater, music, writing and, of course, visual art. “A lot of these kids would not otherwise get to take private art classes,” Colin says. “This provides them an opportunity to explore their creative sides.”
May marks the end of the latest DREAMS semester, and the students are ready to show the community what they’ve been creating. The organization’s goal is always to boost self-confidence and interest in the arts, and the upcoming end-of-the-year student showcase is the students’ chance to shine.
“It’s really like the old question about the tree falling in the forest and whether or not it makes a sound if no one is there to hear it,” Colin compares. Likewise, the children need their art to be seen to realize how important it is to create.
The second week in May will be a big one for DREAMS, with two shows featuring its students and their work. The first, “Self Portraits and Dreams,” was made possible after receiving the a grant from corporate magnate Staples. The “Literacy Through the Arts” grant has allowed DREAMS the opportunity to put together a professional exhibit for the students at Era Gallery. “These works will be from the photography class,” Colin informs. “It will be the world seen through the students’ eyes, as well as self-portraits.”
In conjunction with the photography class, DREAMS’ writing class will also be sharing their work at the exhibit, providing an inside look into the blossoming artists. Photography teacher Matt Baumgardner and writing teacher Shawna Kenney are billing the event as “an introspective and evocative exhibit,” which “explores the rich texture of the [students’] inner lives.”
“I always love working with the DREAMS students,” Kenney says. “They are so game to try anything, writing-wise. I was around their ages when writing really presented itself to me as a form of self-expression . . . little did I know writing would become my profession.” Kenney, a successful writer with the cult hit I Was a Teenage Dominatrix to her name, admires the group of kids that DREAMS has managed to pull together. “The students I worked with on this show are the kind of artists I wish I was always surrounded with,” Kenney says. “[They’re] smart, experimental, bold, honest, free from the commercial constraints that sometimes get mixed in with creativity and really funny.”
Also taking place as part of the DREAMS celebration is their End-of-Year Student Showcase at the Scottish Rite. The visual arts exhibit will precede a full-length original production called “Mirror, Mirror,” as part of the Theater for Social Change program.
“This year is about cause and effect,” Emily Colin denotes. “The students have written original monologues, edited with the teachers, about a topic they’ve chosen. There’s going to be drumming, dancing and everything! Everyone is involved.”
Indeed, every student is able to lend their skills to the production, whether mixing the sound track in music class or designing a mural in art class. “It’s everyone together, performing and visual artists. It will really give people a good sense of what the DREAMS experience is all about.”
The“Self Portrait and Dreams” exhibit takes place at Era Gallery, with an African drum circle offering entertainment at 523 S. 3rd Street, on May 9th at 6pm. “Mirror, Mirror” takes place at the Scottish Rite Temple at 1415 S. 17th Street on May 14th at 6pm. Call (910) 772-1501 for more information, or visit www.dreamswilmington.org to view student art.
ALSO THIS WEEK:
• 5/7-10: Paint Wilmington! 2008, 10am-6pm. Accomplished painters from around the country converge on Wilmington to paint full-time; 3-5 new paintings a day, with a show opening Saturday morning, 5/10, 9am, Walls Gallery, 2173 Wrightsville Ave.; www.wallsgallery.com or (910) 343-1703 for more information.
• Register 8:30am-1:10pm for beginning metals class at CFCC this summer! Covers hand fabrication techniques for jewelry and small metal objects—sawing, piercing, riveting, soldering, scoring and bending, and forming. Meets monday/Wednesday mornings, 5/20-7/30; cfcc.edu.
Categories: Art
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