Colorful Chronicles (May 29, 2009)
Colorful Chronicles
by Christine Benedetti, Time Out Staff Writer
Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Like fast-forwarding through the scary part in a movie, some of the students skip entire pages of their journals. Bold lettering that reads “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” or “death” in cursive writing, line the pages that their hands flutter over pretending that “this page really doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Others are painted black like the bottom of a well.
Some are bright pink, with swirly hearts and boys’ names in the middle.
But all represent milestones in these Basalt Middle School eighth-graders’ lives.
Middle school is rarely a time that anyone looks back at with fondness. It’s a time of braces-filled awkwardness, too-big-for-your body clumsiness, painful rejection and that hunt for the priceless treasure of acceptance. Years when the stark reality that adult events can no longer be conquered with the tactics of a child. But each tragedy — whether it be getting cut from the varsity squad, losing a friend or the death of someone close — still carries the gravity of something much larger.
It’s growing up, and it’s tough. And although journaling doesn’t attempt to provide answers or be a guidebook to the process, it’s an opportunity for students to release and chronicle their evolution. Some take to it with innate rapture, and others, well, it’s a way to pass a class.
The Wyly Community Art Center has been providing journaling classes to community members, including students, of all ages for the better part of a decade. They’ve recently discovered the most effective time for this is in middle school, and four valley nonprofits — Kids First, Aspen Community Foundation, Springboard and the Wyly — have provided financial backing to a program in which they believe. The money goes toward basic art supplies.
“It offers tools for these students to work through these years of strife,” says Deb Jones, the Wyly’s executive director. “It all comes out differently depending on who they are.”
During nine one-hour sessions in school, students are given a tabula rasa; free will over journals that become something greater. During that time, they’re told to pick a milestone: an event in their life that changed who they are. The rest are pages of emotion on certain days, feelings toward the future and an artist’s palette of smeared colors, handprints and brushstrokes.
“This is hard for them,” she says, pointing to a student whose journal is filled with back-to-back pages of painted black. “Many of them are not used to that.”
There are magazine cut-outs of ready-to-eat meals, colored pencil renderings of the Virgin Mary and neon kites in vacant space.
“It’s neat because you get to try different techniques,” says Alex van Alstyne, a 14-year old, who admitted to staying up until 3 in the morning to add to his journal. “Students who weren’t getting into it are getting into it.”
His brush circles a brightly colored design that looks like the outside of a snail’s shell.
“I really wanted to go swimming when I drew this one,” he adds, flipping the page. “It’s something you can express yourself in.”
Dressed in an oversized T-shirt that, with eight weeks worth of spilled paint and extra Elmer’s glue, is a piece of art in itself, Giulio Del Piccolo talks about skiing at least one day each month for 12 in a row as his turning point. He skied through the summer with his dad and the page depicting this event as his favorite.
“I kinda like the project,” he says, but adds that he’s “not that good at it.”
Across from him, another boy has filled his pages with sports figures, baseballs and athletic terms. Jones says this is common for the males in the group, who are sport-obsessed or still not in touch with inner emotions.
Stephanie Di Bacco’s journal is thick and crinkled, filled with pages of dried paint, glued-one checkers pieces and ribbon. Her favorite pen — a pink, see-through thing — recently broke, and its pieces are scattered across the front. There’s a picture of a rollercoaster, made with popsicle sticks; it depicts her recent trip to Elitch Gardens and fondness for the amusement park ride.
“My family are artists, and I’ve been doing this my whole life,” she says about crafts. “I really, really like this project and don’t want it to ever be over.”
Di Bacco, 13, is one of the students who will continue journaling long after this class, which just recently ended with the near-completion of the school year.
“The class focuses on a variety of collage and art techniques documenting personal themes, giving a visual voice to what matters to them,” says Jones, who has been an art educator in the valley for more than 30 years and strongly believes in the power of journaling.
Toward the end of the class, Jones has the dozen or so students circle up to share their close-to-finished journals with the rest of the class. She says some will be reluctant and other forthcoming. Just like their journals.
“The journals document chapters of their lives,” she says. “The experiences and milestones that, in becoming tangible, may serve to guide their actions and spark their imaginations.”
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/entertainment/colorful-chronicles