A Delicate Balance: Principles and Practices Of Promising Arts And Humanities Programs
For many of the young people in these programs, economic survival is a critical issue. Getting a job relates to this primary concern. "I like to have pragmatic goals for these kids," says Dennis Taniguchi, executive director of the Japantown Art and Media Workshop, "and something real for them to get into, that they can see how they can make some bucks. That's a very good way to reach these kids."
These young people are not rejecting the adult world, but trying to figure out how effectively to play a role in it. "You can't exclude kids from the adult world because that's where they're headed and that's what much of their frustration and longing is about," says Lopez.
The staff of The Artists Collective, Inc. would agree. Among its offerings is a Summer Youth Employment and Training Program that rewards
discipline, appropriate dress, grooming and good behavior with a small stipend. The Artists Collective, Inc., located in one of Hartford, Connecticut's poorest neighborhoods, now is known locally as the "oasis on Clark Street."
But if learning art for pay "buys a little patience," so does the use of technology for this media-savvy generation. The Japantown Art and Media Workshop uses computer games to teach design and offers an apprenticeship in computer graphic design. The Educational Video Center recognizes that learning to communicate through a video camera is part of the attraction of their program. Their apprenticeship program in videography capitalizes on young people's interest in media.
Both of these programs apprentice youth to professionals who are completing specific projects under contract. Working on "real-world" projects in a "real-world" environment with a client and a contract, deadlines, telephones and fax machines makes the task more compelling. It also addresses a central concern many young people have about their futures: their employability.
Future employment is exactly what is behind the YO-TV program at the Educational Video Center. Designed for a small group of high school graduates, YO-TV provides them with advanced, pre-professional training and allows them to create broadcast-quality documentary videos on issues of concern to the community.
Some programs build on current teen fads. Both the silk-screening classes at the Japantown Art and Media Workshop and the Teen Project focus on T-shirt design as a beginning activity. "A lot of kids, don't really care about the design aspect. They'd rather leave that to the artist," says Uribe. "But the work of it, the result of producing 500 T-shirts, the mini-thrill of possibly seeing them on the street somewhere appeals to them." For the same reason, the Teen Project is also planning a custom
car-painting service to draw at-risk youth to the program.
In a related way, the Vermont Council on the Humanities, which serves teenage mothers, builds on the importance of their babies to them to encourage literacy. The Read With Me program provides a place for isolated teens to talk with others about
common concerns, hopes, and dreams.
Effective programs build on what young people already value. The experiences that children and youth bring with them are not only valid, but also the core around which the learning process is built. Not all children and youth, however, come to these programs believing that the arts and the humanities are particularly relevant to their lives. "You cannot throw somebody who has been beaten down most of their life into a drawing class and expect them to understand the beauty of drawing. They're not there yet," recognizes Uribe. "Getting them there" means beginning with what youth value and understand.
