Louisa and Tina Talk Teens

Last week, AMF Documenter Coordinator, Louisa Garcia visited with Tina Reyes at the San Diego Center for Children (SDCC).  Gathering research for an  upcoming article, Louisa was curious on how SDCC incorporates art into their programs with at-risk-teens. 

Tina described how the Center uses various forms of art therapy to help provide an opportunity to both educate and to heal.  The teens are taken off-campus twice a month to  attend arts classes. There they are allowed to draw, sketch, paint, and create various art pieces.  According to one teen, “…drawing helps me release all my emotions, I can get all my feeling out on paper by drawing something, and in turn, it makes me feel calm…”   The Center also has its own art room which provides the opportunity for the clients to draw, paint and incorporating other things such as tie-dying, wood working, and sculpting.   Some of their work has even be used at Center auctions and fundraising events. Music therapy is also an integral part of the healing process at the Center.  “Healing Rhythms” drums circles are used to address mood and leadership abilities.  In these groups, teens do not use words to express themselves, rather they play beats to describe their emotions and feelings.    

Starting in September 2010, three more genres of art will be introduced to the Center’s Life Skills Program at the Clark Adolescent Treatment Facility .  Over the course of the next several months the teens will be introduced to the fields of photography, art history, and fashion.  Several lectures and outings to various museums will be scheduled to teach them about  these fields.  Additionally, artists are currently being scheduled to speak at the Center in hopes of inspiring these young adults and introducing them to an otherwise unfamiliar world of art.

~ Tina Reyes, San Diego Center for Children

Art Inspired Lesson Plans

With my recent involvement in the Art Meets Fashion Project, I started thinking about different ways art could be used to inspire, motivate, and even heal teens. Not unlike most teenagers, the kids at the San Diego Center for Children are courteous and enthusiastic when it comes to learning  new things. Given this premise, I started to think about various art forms they are already familiar with and practice on a weekly basis...drumming and drum circles, music therapy groups, the study of blues and song, arts and crafts, woodworking, painting, etc. All healing tools used at the Center. 

Therefore, to create an inspirational and new lesson plan, I wanted to expose them to a genre on art that they have not yet worked with in our curriculum. I chose to start with photography. With the help of a professional photographer, we will be teaching various lectures having to do with photography (i.e., A.Adams: Activist and Artist, The History of Rock n Roll through Photographs, etc.) The lesson plan will pair with current exhibits shown at MoPA in Balboa Park and will incorporate portions of the museum's already established power points and lectures specifically designed for educator usage.

After they have completed the photography lecture portion of the curricula, we will move on to learn about various artists/sculptors and eventually fashion designers and fashion. My objective is to give the teens an initial introduction to various art and artists so they will have more of an appreciation of the lesson plan that is ultimately created for the Art Meets Fashion Project.

I'm excited about this new project and will keep you posted of the progress.......

Tina Reyes

San Diego Center for Children

Introducing Tina Reyes - Educator

Tina is the team's educator. She is a master's level therapist who runs the Life Skills Program for the Clark Adolescent Treatment Facility at the San Diego Center for Children. Her program not only teaches teens independent living skills, but also teaches them about art, culture, sustainable living, and community outreach. Learning is made fun and carried out through workshops, fieldtrips, guest speakers, and interactive lectures.

Her role as "educator" will be to observe and participate in the collaborative process in order to translate the experience into a lesson plan for her program and for general publication. The lesson plan will combine art & fashion and show both as a career path as well as tool for self expression. The lesson plan will comply with California Content Standards.