Already my last day in Seattle, Monday promised to go out with a bang as I was scheduled to meet with Claudia at Coyote Central in the morning, Kathleen at Urban ArtWorks in the afternoon, and a train to Portland by 5:30. Rested after a weekend off and a trip to the beach at Golden Gardens just outside of Seattle, I had picked my longed for shells and beach rocks and was ready to talk art-action. The weather did not match my mood as I looked outside and prepared for my four mile walk across town. It was coming down in sheets. Lesson learned from the debacle in Minnesota, I brought my rain jacket and pre-stored all valuables deep within my backpack before departing.
Over a hill, and a hill, and another hill, another one? ….really, you've got to be kidding me? one more....whew...ok so really great to finally see a mosaic rimmed Coyote Central. Being pretty wet at this point, I was thrilled to see the sun peeping out just as I arrived. Happy that I made it a few minutes early, I struck up a conversation with a young man waiting outside the building. Just so happens that he was also waiting to get inside, in fact he use to be a participant in the programs there had now returned with a degree in psychology to work as a leader with the current youth. He explained how important the organization was to the community, how it helped kids surrounded by gangs and tough family situations have a fun and meaningful alternative to other negative choices. He said he will regularly see kids hanging out on the opposite corner and go over to them, inviting them to participate, getting them involved, and insisting on the importance of using their minds. As the sun came out he gave me a quick tour of art work they had done on the block, a mosiac metal sculpture tree, a painting, metal work above the door at the community center across the street, their work was clearly a presence. Thanking him for the tour we tried another door to get in with more success, and went in the office to meet Claudia.
Claudia greeted me warmly and invited me to talk with her in what looked like a room for dance classes. Giving me a brief overview of how their programs are structured, she explained that they have tuition based programing that is on a sliding scale with available scholarships. Between their fall, winter, and summer programs they had over 1,000 participants last year. Classes offered include metal-work, wood-working, cooking, dancing, sewing, welding, music, glass blowing and bead making, and painting, and that is just some of the options. They also have a summer public arts program that specifically works with kids from low-income homes, and is made possible through scholarships. During this 3-4 week program youth work with professional artists to create a piece of artwork for a public space. City Works is their program for youth who have been through one of there other programs and demonstrated a high degree of talent and commitment to their artwork. In this program, when Coyote Central gets a call for commissioned art work, these students again work with professional artists to produce art for the designated space. One example of this was when Macy's commissioned art work to be hung in the windows of their downtown department store. Other departments stores and business also commission pieces, not only allowing the participants to feel the accomplishment of work being publicly displayed, but also demonstrating how the arts can be a serious and paying profession.
Overall Coyote Central's goal is to get youth interacting with the arts in as many materials as possible with professional artists, and have fun while building skills. Claudia explained that what drives curriculum is what will capture the attention and imaginations of middle school kids. They continue to do this successfully, and old participant return while new ones arrive. With safety precautions and the careful supervision of adults and professional artists, the youth get to try new and exciting projects that both challenge them and build their skills. Seeing their artwork in their community grows their confidence and sense of connection, while also building skills in that directed study as well as problem solving and creative reasoning. So how did they get it started. She explained that the founder of the organization started by operating out of her kitchen some fifteen years ago, and this was the case for years. Much of the work done with professional artist was and still is done off site at the studios and workshops around Seattle. It has only been in the past year that they moved into their own space, and the transition was exciting. The three permanent staff members work extremely hard, and funding continues to remain their largest operating challenge. But they have made it work, and not only have they been reaching and succeeding in their goals, but growing as well.
Yeah, it could take a while to get this thing going. I asked Claudia for advice. She suggested that I should try to keep overhead as low as possible and connect with as many youth providers as possible in the schools, community centers, and with social works. Being interested in the professional teaching-artist model, it would be a good idea to start making connections with the arts community, keeping in mind not all artist make good youth workers. She also suggested starting small and successful, and building up from there(good I'd heard this before). Lastly she advised having measurable ways to gauge success and having methods of evaluation, this is good for self-tracking as an organization and also helpful when applying for grants. And putting in a lot of hard work. Still sounding challenging, I was happy to find some things sounding familiar, and possible. With Claudia's warm words of advice and enthusiastic support, we said goodbye, and I felt ready for the rest of the day's events.
I headed back down town, by bus this time passing the many shelter murals I'd seen pictures of last week, to grab a final lunch from my favorite deli at the market. Bundled against the chill of a damp morning, I happily soaked up the emerging sun as I ate my harvest salad. The view of the Puget Sound below had given me a sense of peace throughout the week, in rain, cold, sun, wind, it seemed to be a source of connection to the larger waters just beyond it. The mountains were obscured by still lingering clouds, but I knew they were there, and was glad of their presence even though out of view. I would miss the sight, and felt the need to come back and actually visit the not so distant mountains and woods. But this trip was for something different, so I prepared to pack my bags and catch a taxi to Urban ArtWorks.
Running late in what seemed like rush hour traffic at 3:30 in the afternoon, I fretted as my valuable time with Kathleen got sucked up by the slow moving wheels of the truck in front of us. When I arrived, trundling down a flight of stairs in my double backpack get-up, Kathleen was more than understanding and accommodating, offering to drive me to the train station to give us more time to talk. What a gem. We sat in their front room which served as an office and reception area, and I could see their studio space through a glass window door. We started with the by now familiar dance of introductions; I explained why I was here and what I was hoping to do with the information upon return to Madison, and Kathleen gave me an outline of the work they were doing as an organization.
I couldn't stop smiling as she talked. One of the first projects the founder did to get the organization started, was a massive organized work event over the course of a weekend. With a grant from the city, hundred of people came together to paint 15 mural, and in the process pick up tons of trash. The city was so impressed with the results that they decieded to continue funding the project. As other community members and businesses saw murals going up, they also wanted to be a part of it and started commissioning artwork from the organization. In addition to these city grants and private commissions, the court system also got involved. Through the courts, kids are designated a certain amount of money for services, from this funding the youth at Urban ArtWorks are given a paycheck for the work that they do there. In this way kids are referred from the court to UAW for a job, the kids have to go through an interview process and show up everyday on time and ready to work, and when working somebody helps them figure out the financial responsibility of having a paycheck. Kathleen explained that they treat this like a job, the youth are expected to be respectful and work hard, show up on time, and work as part of a team. This helps them build life-skills, work training, confidence, financial literacy, experience to put on a resume, and when artwork is completed they get to see their name on something positive. Music to my ears. I had to stop and explain to Kathleen that I was smiling uncontrollably because these are exactly the goals I have been working with youth on for the past three years, and want to continue incorporating into whatever program I develop. I just haven't talked to anybody doing it with art. We agreed it is pretty cool.
Programs run year round in a series of eight week sessions. While UAW primary works with court involved youth, they do work with some other youth during their summer program, as well as adults doing community service. After youth complete their eight week session, funding is no longer provided through the courts, so they are encourage to continue volunteering or to apply for an internship that is funded through UAW. One of the most recent developments in programing is an all female group that meets on Saturdays. Kathleen explained that often if girls are the only female participants, they can feel very uncomfortable and stop showing up(it is still their choice to be there, but like a job they won't receive a paycheck without showing up). Seeing the importance of the girls' comfort and safety, they decided to create a day where the space was strictly female with female staff and case workers. The Saturdays have been a huge success and retention of female participants is way up. While they do projects they talk and share, a sense of safety and connection is created, and the girls love it. On the last day of their session they come together and celebrate. I want to do that.
Realizing there was a resident expert sitting in the other room, Kathleen pulled in a previous participant to tell me about his experience first as a participant in the eight week session and now as an intern. The young man who came in shook my hand with confidence and had great eye contact, he seemed confident and comfortable sitting at a table with two adults. He explained how the program had turned his life around, with qualifications that he didn't want to sound cheesy. It had changed who he was a home and school, he started to feel better about his life, and loved doing the artwork. He has plans to continue doing his artwork and telling his story through his art, he has already started building a name for himself. Now he enjoys coming to UAW and seeing new youth come through the doors, he is there to help support them and lead with his experience. Giving me his website address, I felt I was talking to a professional.
Nearly time to go, I had so many questions running through my head that there was not time to ask them all, most loudly was the repeated one of how do I do this. As Kathleen packed her bags I peeked around their studio space. The walls were lined with large wooden panels that could be installed at a variety of places. Some were commissioned for construction sights, some for businesses or city spaces. Participants sat working around a table in the middle of the room. They were working on pictures that would be part of an auction at the court house where staff would buy their pieces to have them permanently displayed on the courthouse walls. It was time to go, and I fired off questions at Kathleen on our short ride to the station. Kathleen described how their programs are constantly changing, adapting to the needs of youth and patrons. They are flexible while remaining committed to their vision and work with youth and the arts. Her advice was to find out who cares about this in my city and community, and gain support from them, to create high quality images that are successful in the community, think of a variety of funding sources. Again I heard the message that this is a lot of hard work and can take a long time to build as an organization, but it is possible and people do care about the work. Swinging over to the curb at Jackson Street, I barely had time to thank Kathleen enough for all her help and the work she was doing, and then I was literally out the door and running double backpacked to my train...that was leaving in ten minutes.
All's well that ends well, I made it. Huffing embarrassingly and wondering how it still felt I had a ton of bricks on my shoulders even after unloading my bags, I plopped down in my train seat. Now that I was dry and warm and not lugging anything, my mind traced back across the words and faces of the day. I found I was not only inspired but comforted, strangely by how hard this work was, and how much each person I met had put into the success of their program's mission and vision. It was hard, but they were doing it. In light of the challenges, the mountainous obstacles of funding and burn out, people were achieving their goals without superpowers or batman like devices. There are real and practical ways to go about making this change, and creative problem solving has is a power in its own right, if not glamorous. Watching the sun set over unknown rivers, hills dip and rise, and the shadow of trees shade to ebony between the red lips of sky and water, I relaxed into my departure from those thoughts, and prepared for the next leg of the journey.
Now that I am in Portland I know why it came so highly recommended, it's great! As this was an unexpected stop, I currently don't have any meetings set up here, but hope to before leaving for California. I will keep you posted. In the mean time I am loving exploring the city with its friendly tree lined streets, abundant coffee shops and interesting store fronts, and really nice public art and parks. I look forward to taking this time to gather my thought at the half way mark and start putting together a rough rough draft plan for RestArt. In the mean time I plan to check out Chinatown, the Japanese Gardens, river walk, and art museums. Thank you for the many who encouraged me to take a break here!
I hope you are all well!
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