WITH JULIA BERGEN
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SFR: In the 2005-2006 school year, Fine Arts for Children and Teens increased its student base by 50 percent. To what do you attribute such a drastic jump?
JB:
We expanded our program to Española. That's Rio Arriba county. In that program we work with 13 elementary schools there, so we're now kind of a regional organization.
There's also one school in the Jemez district, Pecos Elementary School in San Miguel County and one elementary school in Santa Fe during the school day and that's Tesuque. So I think in total we're working with 18 schools. Then our afterschool is four schools in Santa Fe. Those are all south-side schools, they're all Title I schools, so they're schools that have identified as a very high-risk population because of their economic status, their being English language learners and because of where they are in their academic achievements. We target those populations that typically have the least access to supplemental educational experiences, in those locations that don't typically have strong arts programs.
You bill your art classes as innovative. How does your curriculum outstrip traditional fine arts curriculum?
First, it incorporates art history, art language. But they're not dictating the art-making; they're creating a framework so they can start to think about different ways of thinking about creating a landscape. Should it be abstract or realistic? Do I want my three-dimensional sculpture to be very controlled or, again, very abstract? So we give them different options and choices by using art historical references. The examples of works by a whole gamut of artists we reference to create a launchpad for children. And I think that that is one of the things that makes it very innovative. It's taking what is real about the world of art and bringing it into the studio so that there's a more relevant context for them. The other piece of that is that we try to tie what is their world into their art-making so that there's an even more relevant context from their day-to-day life. Field trips to local museums, to different sites outdoors where they can experience the high desert landscape that really connects them to where they live and what they're seeing with their artists' eyes.
Your background is not really in art education, is it?
No. I came to FACT following about nine years of environmental advocacy. Social change work. I was really disenchanted with what was happening within that sector. I'm not an artist, but art is a huge part of my life. I'm a dancer, I sing and I am a photographer, so I have a lot of artistic interests. The founders of this organization believed that art saves lives. And they both felt that had happened for them. It was a very meaningful part of my own life to become affiliated with this organization because I had experiences when I was a teen through an art school in my community that really changed my life and set me on a positive path. I know that the arts can transform a life. They can give a young person's life meaning.
Let's talk about your growth plan. What's coming up?
In the last two years we've seen considerable growth. We anticipate that we will continue to grow but probably not that dramatically in the next year. This next year we really want to stabilize our programming in the public schools, and we're working on building up the Artclub program now. And also looking at ways that we can deepen our service to the juvenile detention population we work with.
What work do you do with the juvenile detention population?
Right now we're there twice a week, one day on the state side, one day on the federal side. We provide about three hours of art-making. We also work on Saturdays with a group of youth who participate in something called the Ark-an alternative to detention program. It's a new program. They come down to El Museo and make art with us on Saturdays. So we see them three days a week and we'd just like to find ways to continue serving them.
So, seeing them more often?
If that were feasible. Or looking at other facilities and other underserved populations.
Is there some completion or graduation at the end of your art classes?
Absolutely. We have exhibition events in venues throughout the year. Last year we hosted 32 exhibits of children's work. And that's in galleries, restaurants, classrooms and banks, so it's a really broad range of sites. The exhibition is a really significant piece of our program and an important experience for a child, because it's very validating for a child to step into a public space and see their work displayed and also to hear other people seeing and talking about their work. It's so affirming for them as people, as members of a community, and as artists.
What you do is very specific. It fills a niche. Do you have trouble in such a nonprofit-choked town?
I think by its nature, yes. I don't think of it like competition; the nonprofit community is extraordinary in providing services that need to be provided. But funding is challenging and it requires incredible diligence and really being creative and forward thinking. We have to support the arts, and the more that individual citizens can do for a community to support the arts, the healthier and more vibrant a community one will live in. The arts come under attack. The arts are the first to be cut when a public school budget is in crisis, and we have to stop thinking of the arts as something expendable, as just a filler. You have to advocate for the things that give your life meaning, lest you lose them.
FACT's annual art garage sale fundraiser, Under the Queen Sized Bed, runs the weekend of Sept. 22-24 at the Center for Contemporary Arts. To make a donation or for more information, contact FACT at 992-2787.
