Pieces of their plight

A faraway tragedy has hit home for many Laguna College of Art & Design students, who were inspired to create artwork reflecting the heart-rending plight of Ugandan children.

Their work will debut tomorrow in the first exhibition of its kind at the school, featuring the creations of many of its illustration and hybrid students.

“Invisible Children,” which opens tomorrow, takes its name from a 2003 documentary film created by three San Diegans that exposes the lives of northern Uganda’s “night commuters” and child soldiers.

An opening reception will be in conjunction with First Thursdays Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

A free screening of the film will be at 3 p.m. March 7 on the campus, as part of the organization’s third national tour.

The film documents the plight of nearly two million Ugandans caught between their government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) which have fought for more than 20 years.

Due to the army’s unpopularity, its rebels began abducting children and forcing them to fight for their cause; estimates from Invisible Children find that more than 90% of LRA troops are children.

Since the film was made, a temporary truce has been declared between the Ugandan government and the LRA — creating the longest period of peace in northern Uganda in more than 20 years — but a lasting peace agreement has not yet been signed, despite peace envoys sent by the United States and other nations.

Access to employment, education, health care and basic needs is still an issue for the area’s population, the majority of which still lives in temporary camps.

College student Sarah Crooks saw the film and shared the cause in her classes.

“She saw the documentary a while ago,” college Associate Director of Financial Aid and Student Services Michael Pearlman said. “She just wanted to show the film at the school.”

Pearlman had been asked to create a student illustration show with Illustration Chair Michael Savas; when he learned about the cause, he thought it would be a natural fit.

“The beauty of this show, I think, is that all levels from freshman to senior can participate,” Savas said.

The college contacted the Invisible Children coordinators, who told them they had been hoping to get involved with an art school.

It had viewings of the film for its students; many were inspired to create pieces for the show.

Junior Tracy Greene was among those who were moved by the film.

“Everyone at some point feels really upset about it, but it escapes you because it’s not part of your daily life,” she said.

She chose to make an ink, gouache and colored pencil piece called “Entrapment,” featuring a child whose body is contorted to symbolize his trapped existence.

Junior Ashlee Fletcher titled her gouache piece “We Walk, We Sleep, We Pray.”

“Part of the documentary was about kids being collected by the rebels,” she said.

The children would run away to sewers and basements every night to avoid being enslaved as child soldiers, walking miles to escape the kidnappers; they became known as “night commuters.”

Junior Melody Duenas, who spent one of her school breaks researching the cause, chose to focus on the plight of young girls in the country in her oil painting, “Their Spirit Raped in the Weight of the Cosmos.”

“The story of all of them came together to create the story of one pregnant girl,” she said.

Over the girl’s outstretched hand floats a delicate white, bleeding rose — symbolic of innocence and a life that is bleeding but not dead, Duenas said.

The Ugandan landscape is in the background.

“It’s universal, but it’s still very specific to Uganda, and what’s happening there to these poor girls,” Duenas said.

“That’s always been an interest of mine,” she said. “Now I really want to say something. I want this piece to speak for them.”

The Laguna College of Art & Design Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free; complimentary parking is readily available. The show ends March 14.

What: “Invisible Children” student art exhibition

Where: Laguna College of Art & Design, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road.

When: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday from and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through March 14; reception 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday; film screening 3 p.m. March 7

Cost: Free parking and admission

Information: (949) 376-6000 or www.lagunacollege.edu