When 10-year-old Marika Adams walked into Room 1916 in ES Bird Library Wednesday afternoon, her jaw dropped out of pure shock and excitement. Her hands, glued to her cheeks, slid down from her face into a solid clasp.

Adams’ brown, puppy-dog eyes were fixated on the collection of stencil drawings held by clothespins on a rope, duct taped from one end of the wall to the other. She walked to the line and pointed up at her’s — gigantic clouds drawn in sky blue and white, a cheerful yellow-orange sun only to be surmounted by roaring waves outlined in pink on a sheet of black construction paper.

‘Pink is my favorite color,’ said Adams, a fifth-grader at Martin Luther King Elementary School. ‘It took me one day to do this drawing and it was a lot of fun.’

Adams and her fellow classmates saw an exhibit of their artwork from this semester as students of Artreach, a program run by Syracuse University students who teach art education to children ages six to 12.

Artreach classes are held Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Central Village Youth Center, which is about four blocks past the Brewster/Boland residence halls. The program draws a majority of poor African-American students from the Pioneer Homes public housing project, Artreach founder Zack Denfeld said.

‘We’re using art to create an education opportunity for these kids,’ Denfeld said. ‘We also use it as an inspiration for them and they can express themselves and see something positive.’

Before the Artreach exhibit began at 5 p.m., Denfeld strolled along the same clothesline Adams fancied. Denfeld studied the hanging sheets of construction paper intently for a minute. The shy grin on his face emitted a sense of satisfaction.

Denfeld, a senior policy studies and art history major, started Artreach last spring after realizing there were no art programs for kids in Wilson Park Community Center. He was given a shoestring budget of about $40, provided by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

As the program concludes its first year, Denfeld is amazed at how far the program has come in terms of the number of students involved and the quality of the projects.

Most of last year’s artwork was limited to drawings and a few paintings, Denfeld said. The exhibit on Thursday showcased a variety of work including glittered masquerades, magazine collages and small figurines.

A flock of students gathered around a scrapbook to see pictures taken of them in action. Lakeisha Ballard, a 10-year-old fifth grader at Le Moyne Elementary School flipped excitedly through the book to find her picture. Ballard enjoyed working with the SU student volunteers, she said.

‘They taught us a lot,’ Ballard said, ‘how to make people, how to draw and how to make masks.

‘I was proud of my work.’

Ballard’s favorite project this semester was writing a story about Lil’ Bow Wow accompanied by pictures of the 13-year-old rap sensation. Ballard gave the completed story to her friend as a present, she said.

Artreach volunteer Michael Altbaum, a freshman majoring in political science, has fond memories of students like Ballard, who were frustrated in making projects out of magazines, such as Time and YM because they couldn’t identify with the culture or people presented.

‘They were looking for pictures of Lil’ Bow Wow and rappers,’ Altbaum said. ‘I definitely had a culture shock because, as a kid from suburbia, I wasn’t used to hearing talk about gangs and the inner-city.’

‘But all of the kids love doing the art and they make a valiant effort to try and make their projects better,’ Altbaum added.

The overarching goal for Artreach is for SU volunteers to connect with the students and form a relationship to embrace art and the local community, Denfeld said establishing a one-to-one relationship is key. About 15 SU students are involved in Artreach every week.

Most of the Artreach volunteers aren’t artists themselves, Denfeld said.

“They get the kids excited and inspired with what they are working on,” Denfeld said. “You just have to be able to work with kids.’

With Artreach entering its second year, the program will have to figure out ways to get more resources and funding beyond the public affairs department. Artreach spent about $300 this semester on supplies, coordinator Lauren Mills said.

Mills, a sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences, succeeded Denfeld this year as the program coordinator and has worked in earnest to use resources available at the Central Village Youth Center. Mills suggested that next year’s crew, to be headed by freshman Andrew Parsons, look to local businesses and art stores for grants and sponsorship.

‘We’re going to play it by ear,’ Parsons said. ‘We want to try and get more ideas involved and do a lot more research in art education and ask for grants from local businesses in the community.’

The Syracuse Housing Authority gave some money and supplies to Mills this year. She used the resources to come up with projects off the top of her head for students to do. But Mills also used the Internet for ideas and to explore art education resources.

Recruiting students already majoring in art education is an option for next year, Mills said.

‘Most people do it not really because art’s their major or for service hours,’ Denfeld said. ‘But they just go down there once and fall in love with the kids.’

Published on April 25, 2002 at 12:00 pm