Kids from the St. Louis Youth and Family Center last month
got to view fine art and photography at the Saint Louis
Art Museum. Then, they also got to create their own personal
work of art.
About her trip to the Museum, 12-year-old Keairra Jones
of Jennings said, "I wanted to learn what people felt about
their paintings."
She was one of the kids from the Youth and Family Center
in the city of St. Louis who were taking part in a special
summer program at the Art Museum. The free Summer Youth
smART program is for community and school groups in the
area.
Keairra will be a 7th grader this fall at Jennings Junior
High School. She said she had an art class in school last
year and will have another this fall.
So far, her best art project involved a weaving in the
shape of a heart. She said she has it at home as a decoration
on her dresser.
She said she thought the most interesting part of the museum
tour was seeing a gallery filled with oil portraits.
But, for 14-year-old Marvin Payton of the city of St. Louis,
his favorite was the exhibition of photos by the late Gordon
Parks. The museum has a special exhibit of 50 of the former
Life magazine photographer's most famous photos.
Parks is considered to be one of the most outstanding African-American
photographers. He worked for Life magazine for nearly 25
years, 1948-1972.
Marvin said he was most interested in Parks' photos of
boxer Mohammed Ali. Two of the Ali photos are in the exhibit.
One is a color picture while the other is a stark, black
and white headshot of the boxer.
Parks produced a wide variety of photographs. Some were
of the rich and famous. But, others were of the seedier
side of life, such as slums in big cities around the world.
After touring the Parks' exhibition and one of the painting
galleries, the kids got a chance to make some artwork of
their own.
Each kid had his picture taken and was given a headshot
printed on a clear transparency. They then mounted the photo
on a piece of paper and got to put a personalized border
on as if it were their framed portrait.
The museum's Summer Youth smART program is for kids ages
7 through 12. However, in the case of the Youth and Family
Center, their top age limit didn't apply to all the kids.
(If you'd like to know more about art programs for kids
at the Saint Louis Art Museum, you can visit www.slam.org.
Or you could call (314)655-5493.)
Ms. Viola Odin was the group leader for the visiting kids.
She said the Center is an after-school program that also
has a summer schedule. They have a variety of programs,
including such things as reading and school-help classes.
At the museum, museum employe Heidi Lung supervised the
kids on their tour and on the individualized art work. Ms.
Lung is an educator for the museum.
Ten-year-old Shayla Francis said she thought the gallery
of oil paintings was "pretty cool."
She said she was especially impressed with the large portraits
of richly-dressed women in the gallery.
Most of the kids' earlier exposure to art was in school
classes. There, a lot of the art was more in the form of
crafts.
Both Shayla and Marvin said their best previous artwork
involved making decorative masks. But, Marvin said he did
do a watercolor of a vase which turned out pretty well.
Marvin said one of his masks was a tiger made out of paper
plates. He also said he made an African mask.
Ms. Odin said she saved his masks and has them at the Youth
and Family Center.
Shayla said she also has made a big tree out of paper as
well as a vase with paper flowers.
Marvin said he was hoping the museum trip would give him
some tips on how to draw. He said he has tried to do pencil
drawings of cars. But, he admitted they weren't very good.
All three of the kids said they wanted to pursue careers
that have aspects of art in them.
Keairra said she wants to be an architect. She said the
idea came because one of her cousins is in that design field.
Shayla said she's looking forward to becoming a clothing
designer. She said she started to get interested in design
after watching a TV show about a famous designer.
"At the beginning, I tried to do some sketches but they
weren't very good. But, I kept trying and then I started
to copy designs I saw in fashion magazines.
"Eventually, I got so my sketches were pretty good," she
said.
Marvin said he'd like to have a career as a pro athlete.
But, if that didn't work, "I'd like to be a video game designer,"
he said. He said his favorite game now is "NBA-2008".
