Artist in Residence - North Charleston Cultural Affairs

Being the Artist-in-residence of North Charleston has been an exhilerating creative expericence for me. My over riding mission has been to plant the seeds of visual literacy and a love and appreciation for observational drawing in the fertile minds of the young people in some of the most "at risk" communities in North Charleston. These are some photos that were taken at Alice Birney Middle School seventh grade art class, part of a 2 week residency there.

I watch the faces of these kids open as they discover an entirely new part of their brain and begin to draw with sophistication and specificity, truly seeing possibly for the first time in their lives. I see them as taking control of their world in some small yet profound way. I've encouraged them to imagine a life filled with possibility, to follow their passions and not just accept their lot in life as if it were somehow real.

Giving oursleves over to something we thought was simply beyond our grasp. Learning a skill that can be practiced and honed if there is a desire. I realize it is a rare gift- to be given a structure where success is possible.

To see in a way that goes behond garnering enough information to survive. To be a cause, a force to be reckoned with.

To see the face of someone truly lost in the reverie of a line. I see drawing as a celebration of how things are connected. This is a form of spiritual devotion few will ever take the time to develop. But we did.

Using gesture and envelope we created some pretty convincing self portraits.

More about the AIR program

Today while I was painting I started talking about developing internal rewards rather than trying to impress others. If I could have learned that lesson then I can only imagine the heart ache I could have avoided. Then I started begging them not to put off pursuing their dreams until they are too old to do anything about them. These poor kids got a lot more than they bargained for today. Young people are literally starving to hear someone just level with them.

I'm looking for a more direct, authentic experience with my work as an artist and a teacher. Even in big groups in my work as AIR of N. Chas. I always am looking for those little one-on-one moments between the master and the apprentice. Those little "aha" moments when someone sees an abstract shape for the first time in their lives. I have found that by opening myself up to these young people, being vulnerable as an artist on a journey, not as a polished "success" to rub in their faces, I get them to think about their own life journey, their own creative adventure. It is possible to be a success and fallible. In fact it is not possible to succeed without being willing to make a complete fool of yourself along the way.