Art time work pays off for students

Elise Gee

COSTA MESA -- Earning $500 for a work of art isn’t bad for someone whose

entire resume consists of once washing the family car for $10.

That’s what 9-year-old Bryan Bergmann did through Creating Pride, a Costa

Mesa program that links corporations with children to help promote

self-esteem through art.

Along with 156 other students, Bryan, who participated in the program at

Whittier Elementary, was invited to “On The Wall” -- a retrospective of

all the artwork created by students during the past year. The one-night

showing Friday evening reunited the young artists with their corporate

sponsors, who together raised $27,000 for art supplies for the children’s

schools.

“It’s a wonderful program that has somehow touched most of the school,”

said Whittier teacher Mary Becker.

Students from Whittier and Paularino schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District are handpicked for the program. Corporate sponsors are

recruited to sponsor the artworks at anywhere from $200 to more than

$1,500 per piece. The money is used to purchase art supplies for the

school.

Ryan Shannon, a second-grader at Paularino, said he doesn’t mind being

able to do something nice for his school.

“I don’t like being spoiled and keeping all the money for myself,” Ryan

said. “It’s nice doing it for my teacher. We bought extra school

supplies, pencils, oil pastels, paper, paintbrushes and crayons.”

Those resources have been extra valuable on the West Side, where

attention is typically focused on teaching English, said Trina Rosen, the

program’s executive director.

“It gives kids the opportunity for something where there is no pass and

fail,” Rosen said.

Rosen brought the program to California after working for a similar one

in Chicago.

After the children are selected for the program, they are “hired” by the

corporation. They spend one day a week working on their work of art. Once

they complete it, they must formally present it to their employers.

After they receive the commission, a “milkshake meeting” is held where

students vote on how to spend the money for the school.

Pat Insley, principal of Paularino School, said the real-life lessons

learned by students can be just as important as creating the art itself.

Insley accompanied a group of students to a law firm in downtown Los

Angeles last year. For Ryan, it was a thrill taking the elevator up to

the 16th floor.

“All the lawyers were there to greet the children,” Insley said. “I just

saw eyes open up. It was like they saw the possibilities.”