LOS ANGELES TIMES
Going with the river’s flow
A mural in Santa Monica gives students a new way to think about
the importance of waterways in our lives.

What happens when you take a museum, a mall, an artist, an idea and 200 kids and put them together? The first installation from the Santa Monica Museum’s “Wall Works” program, a 19-foot mural whose components are surprisingly varied, an imaginative collage of shapes and images, from frogs to turtles, lizards, fish, and serpents.

The mural, on display at the Santa Monica Place Mall just outside the third floor of Robinsons-May, is a collaoration of the museum, Santa Monica Place, L.A. artist Alison Saar and 231 students at nine schools. Constructed of strung-together wood shingles, each piece painted in shades of gold, white, blue, and black, the public art project offers a little respite from the crowds, tinsel and Santas that otherwise populate the mall during the holidays.

“We felt that taking an art collaboration directly into the classrooms would be an interesting thing to do. It sprang from talking with the teachers directly and feeling out what their needs were. And it grew from there,” says Asuka Hisa, the museum’s education director. “There were so many people involved with this first project, and I tried to find an artist who would work particularly well with this kind of collaboration.”

To intitiate the program, Hisa asked Saar to create the project that became known as, “Undercurrents.”

Drawing on the same inspirations that fuel her own work (which explores her African American heritage and folk art and utilized found and organic objects), Saar created a lesson plan that combines literature, environmental awareness, history and art in one neat package. “I had been working quite a bit with rivers in my own work,” Saar says, “and thinking in general about rivers in my own work,” Saar says, “and thinking in general about rivers and what they mean to communities. I had also been reading the Langston Hughes poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers.’ So I had the students read the poem and think about those ideas and explore what has happended to our own L.A. River. I saw it as a very loose theme that could tie in a lot of things at once.”

The Santa Monica Museum provided students with an “art kit” filled with supplies, a lesson plan and video created by Saar and wood shingles hand-cut by the artist. After a classroom reading of the Hughes poem, studnets were asked to express their interpretations and thoughts visually.

“The whole project was interesting,” says Sue Li, a student at Culver City High School. “We learned about the importance of rivers and of how rivers became the source of civilization, and it was interesting to see what people did with their pieces. A lot of people did work that related to fish and to water.”

Li’s art teacher, Kristine Hatanaka, found “Undercurrents” to be “such a full experience, each facet of the program was great. It’s unusual to be able to have an exhibit and to have the kids be able to contribute individually to a larger whole.”

Justin Fassino, another Hatanaka student, says, “It was an individual thing, but at the end it all came together, so it was kind of an ‘individual collaboration.’ It was fun doing it on your own, but I saw other people’s work in the class, and it looked really good, so it will be exciting to see how it all turned out with the pieces together.”
It is exactly this collaboration--the joint effort of schools, artist, students and the museum--that Hisa sees as the “Wall Works” program’s strongest offering.

“It provides a great sense of ‘united we are greater than the sum of our parts,’ “ she says, “and I think it gives everyone a sense of having participated in a much larger event.”
--Jessica Hundley, Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2002 [top]

THE WESTSIDER
Fast forward
In eight short weeks, students' videos go from ideas to reality to screening to MOCA

Admittedly, many of them didn't know what they were doing when they started out, but students from the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts received rave reviews from family, friends, and staff for their videos which screened Sunday at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

It was all part of the Public + Artist program held in conjuction with the museum's education department in which the students had eight weeks to create videos.

"None of the students had any background in video or editing so it was a process of learning a new medium," Culver City High art teacher Kristine Hatanaka says. "It's not pencil or paint, so it was something they could experiment with and really learn about a whole new process."

The concepts and the ideas for the videos were decided by the 17 students, who worked with Hatanaka, artist David Lamelas and museum educators Fabrizio Flores and Amy Green. They produced 13 videos that ran one to five minutes each.

"What they filmed was really their decision," Hatanaka says.

Ashley and Casandra produced "Eye of the Rose," a video based on how nature inspires them. Ashley followed Casandra, who appears in the video, around with the camera.

"We started out having no idea how to do this," Ashley says.

But with a little guidance from some of their classmates, they were able to successfully complete the project.

"We just took the camera and filmed what we got, and that's basically how we got our video," Ashley says. "We just went out by ourselves and kind of figured it out. It was pretty fun and it's really cool seeing our work in a museum and having all our friends and family come and support us."

The finished product exceeded Casandra's expectations.

"It turned out better than I expected and all the videos really turned out fabulous," she says.

Michele wishes she would have had more time to work on hers, however.

"I wish I could have done some other stuff, but this was a really fun experience," says Michele, who used her best friend Marilyn as a subject.

Michele loves photography and taking pictures and was glad to have the opportunity to work with a digital camera.

"At first I didn't know what all the buttons were for, but I practiced and had a lot of fun with it," she adds. "I learned how to use a different medium and how to digitize and put it all together on the computer."

Resa was amazed to see her video shown at such a prestigious museum, recalling the early struggles of the works.

"Everybody was really confused about how it was going to turn out because none of us had been exposed to it before, but it all came together really well," she says.

"I've never worked in video before, but I really liked it and I hope I get to do it again," adds Resa, who likes working in theatre projects and productions.

"I like artwork and doing set designs and the painting that goes on with the production," she says. "I hope to study that in college, and stuff like this looks good on your resume."

The size of the screen that the videos were presented on was a little too big for Nastassja.

"I was like, 'No!' because when we came here to see David Lamelas' screening last month, the videos were on a small screen, but ours was shown on a screen that was so big," Nastassja says. "I'm really conscious of my video and I don't want people to get the wrong messages. So I was really scared about it."

Her video was one minute and 10 seconds in length, but it required five hours of working in a small room in what she describes as chaotic conditions. And while she says she didn't care for the environment, Vidrio was grateful to have had the opportunity.

"It was fun going there every Wednesday and editing," she says. "Even though I knew most of the people, I got to know them better. You can get to know a lot of people really well if you're in a small room with them. It was really cool that we all went through this once in a life opportunity."

Hatanaka was impressed with the work of her students.

"This is spectacular," she says. "I'm really overwhelmed by actually being here at MOCA, one of the most prestigious museums in L.A., and I feel very honored. We appreciate all the hard work the students did. Everyone from the museum has been very supportive. To see it all come together is really a dream."

Besides the video, the students also had to create an art piece based on their video in which they had to take a frame from one of their videos. The pieces were paintings, drawing, and collages.

Other students who produced videos were Sara, Erica, Chani, Michele, Kelly, Rozi, Sue, Melissa, Antonia, Bryan, Amy and Teresa.

"We gave them guidance, but the actual art projects were generated by the students," Hatanaka says. "That's what is so great about MOCA's educational programs. They provide the guidance, but allow the students to create what they want. They allow them to discover or reveal or express what they want. They really don't restrict them in anyway."
--Mario Villegas, The Westsider, March 20, 2003 [top]

Culver City High School Art teacher Kristine Hatanaka says she has always been supportive of the Ryman Program for Young Artists.

The Ryman Program showed what they think of Hatanaka when they presented her the prestigious Herbert D. Ryman Mentor Award.

The award was given to her for her exemplary guidance and teaching of her students, many of whom have been selected to exhibit their work in such notable locations as the Museum of Contemporary Art and a special exhibition at the former World Trade Center.

"It really came to me as a complete surprise," she says. "Ive always been a huge advocate of the program, but I was never aware they gave an award to teachers. I felt so honored and was really thrilled
and proud to be selected."

Martin Sklar, the president of the Ryman-Carroll Foundation, presented the award to Hatanaka in front of her peers and students May 29 at the organizations annual Graduation and Student Art Exhibition at USC's School of Fine Arts.

Culver City High School students Melissa L. and Resa D. were also honored. The Ryman Program for Young Artists selects top students in visual art to win full scholarships for advanced instruction in the foundation areas of drawing and painting.

"Completion of this rigorous program by these committed young artists represents at least three semesters of art classes every Saturday, in addition to the students' regular high school coursework," says Diane Brigham, executive director of the Ryman Foundation.

"All the students have shown a real dedication to developing their artistic talents. And the artwork they have produced for this exhibition is stunning."

Ryman classes are held at USC's School of Fine Arts.

"This is a a program that really allows students to excel," Hatanaka says. "The talent is there, the Ryman Program allows the students to develop their creativity."
--Mario Villegas, The Westsider, June 12, 2003 [top]