D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
December
2008
Inside Looking
The Artist Inside program shows young criminal offenders a different way of seeing the world.
By Jeff Berg
There is talent in all of us, and Sarah McNie Flores makes an extra effort to prove that idea to the young men who are students at the very alternative Aztec High School in Las Cruces.
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Sarah Flores shows Artist Inside students
creative techniques. |
Aztec High School is located inside the John Paul Taylor Correctional Facility, which houses young men, ages 13-21, with a maximum capacity of 48.
Flores has created an art program, Artist Inside, for the students of the school, which previously just taught the three Rs.
By day, she is an instructor in the NMSU Women's Studies Department, with a deep interest in photography. But once a week, she hauls the necessary art supplies to the Taylor Center, to instruct the young men and boys in the fine arts, such as (of course) photography and, with the help of other volunteers, drawing, sketching, theater and music.
"I came to Las Cruces to attend grad school and wanted to teach photography to an underserved population," she says. "I selected Taylor to work with the 'at risk' population." We are all "at risk," she adds.
She'll have no shortage of students, as Dona Ana County boasted the second highest number of serious youth (boys and girls) criminal offenses in the state last year, with 4,700, trailing only Bernalillo County.
After observing as a regular volunteer, Flores noted that the boys were "clearly very talented," and reported that to one of her NMSU professors. "I was challenged by that professor to write an essay about what to do about it, and a few months later I came up with the idea that became Artist Inside." The program launched in 2005.
"It started as a simple drawing and sketching class," Flores recalls, "and later we added photography, video work, and the music program started after Karline Valentine called to offer her help."
Flores notes that Dr. Heather Oesterreich, who was her grad-school advisor, also spent a lot of her own time to help get the project up and running. And Flores' husband, Dr. Jose Flores, has leant a significant hand, she says. Artist Inside also got a boost from a $4,900 grant in the form of the French Annual Improvement of Secondary Teaching Award, which is awarded through NMSU's College of Education.
Artist Inside has proven so successful that it has expanded to another youth facility, in Albuquerque. And the Dona Ana Arts Council (DAAC) recently became a fiscal sponsor of the program, which was self-funded before. Artist Inside also officially became a non-profit organization, when it received its 501(c)3 designation.
Last summer the DAAC sponsored a show of photos taken by some of the Artist Inside students. And on occasion, a piece of work will sell. Flores refuses to make reproductions of any of the drawings or photos, thus making them one of a kind. She hopes to be able to find people who are willing to allow future shows of the art created by the young men.
She adds, "People assume that the students are all criminals, but everyone is impressed by the formality of the work."
Artist Inside helps to change our burned-in perceptions about these young men, who sometimes just need a hand to find a new direction. Art becomes a two-way bridge, allowing the students to share and develop their skills and latent talent, and the public to see that everyone, indeed, has something to offer.
"Originally we had 12 students for 12 weeks, but by the end of that time, there had been a lot of moving around, since some students were transferred or released on parole," Flores says. "Now it is 6/6 — six students, six weeks — and since it is shorter, the programs are much more intense. They'll get six weeks of camera arts and we did chalk pastels recently. We will also be working on scanner collage in the future. We're trying to think outside the box a little bit."
Perhaps an unexpected benefit of the program is the power of art as an equalizer. Flores and the other volunteers are working with many young men who have had or continue to have gang affiliations, but that has never been an issue during any of the Artist Inside classes. There have been no fights, and disagreements have all been worked out between the participants.
"This is not like school, since we have guidelines, not rules," says Flores. "Everyone must treat everyone else with respect, and know that we are doing this to help, not hinder. There are no labels, other than the idea that everyone is nothing more than an artist. Respect begets respect.
"The students take ownership of the program, and the atmosphere doesn't allow for disrespect of anyone. We ask them to tell the instructor if they are having a bad day, just let us know, and you can go back and take care of business."
Flores feels that the boys can learn anything through the arts. She recalls one young man who questioned the idea of using and learning about perpendicular lines in art, asking, "Is this art or math?"
There are no grades given, and the class is run more like a workshop. "That's to discourage those who just want to 'get by,'" Flores says.
A native of England, Flores lived in Pennsylvania, California and Indiana before coming to New Mexico in 2002. Her own interest in photography extends to her "day job," as she offers classes at NMSU in therapeutic and self-representative photography. Her interest in photography has long been therapeutic, beginning when she lost a brother to suicide in 1997.
"I coped by getting involved in photography, taking lots of pictures," she recalls. "The arts are healing but they are not therapy, but they can be therapeutic. Now I want to bring the arts to underserved populations and to those who are oppressed."
Personally, she prefers 35mm black-and-white film photography to digital format, but teaches digital to her Artist Inside students. She would love to teach standard 35mm film shooting and developing, she says, but setting up a darkroom at the Taylor Center will never happen for security and cost reasons.
Photography does have a slight edge in popularity among the boys, and Flores always makes sure that there are cameras at the ready.
"I see a change in the students," she says. "They mature, they start to see the world differently, and this challenges them to see that world."
Flores has hopes of further expanding the program, starting with the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility, the prison for adult offenders located just west of Las Cruces.
Each Taylor Center class has a "graduating" ceremony at the end of the six weeks. Students receive supplies that will allow them to continue to develop their skills.
"They must want to be artists," Flores says. "Public schools are moving away from the arts. By doing this, we are trying to show that art is what they need."
You can find more information about the Artist Inside program at www.artistinside.org If you would like to volunteer your art, office or grant-writing skills, contact Sarah Flores at theartistinside@aol.com or
525-2333. Good-quality art supplies are also needed, as is additional funding.
Senior writer Jeff Berg also prefers black-and-white film photography.
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