Aiming to teach young students in Los Angeles Unified School District the freedom and fun of creating art, two juniors from University High School Charter in West Los Angeles created and taught an inclusive summer program that helps young growing artists to succeed.
Artistic Ascent is the brainchild of Barathi Balamurugan, 16, and Jeevana Doddi, 16, two friends who saw a need to let young people experience the fun of creating without worrying about traditional school curriculums and achievement goals.
Several students who took part had diverse special needs including autism, ADHD or Down’s syndrome, and the program proved to be of value to all students.
“Creating space was the main point of our program,” Barathi said. “So accommodating for these kids wasn’t that much of a struggle.”
Along with invaluable help from volunteers from their high school, Barathi and Jeevana were joined by several special education aides who offered modifications to make the instruction accessible to everyone.
“We want to focus on creative expression in itself,” Barathi said, “like what the kids like to do, what they want to express.”
The goal of Artistic Ascent was to encourage young students, in transitional kindergarten (TK) to fourth grade, to share their personal experiences and feelings through art. Part of the art instruction focused on copying existing artworks as a means of learning technique.
“We went through many activities where they could express themselves,” Barathi said, including drawing, painting and creating collages.
Students also painted images that had important meaning to them, including special places that they went on vacation, portraits of their homes, and the rooms in their homes.
Cecily Mullings, assistant principal with WISH Community & Academy Schools in Westchester, appreciated and admired the two students, who taught the classes in four 45-minute sessions each day for four weeks from June 16 through July 11. The classes were grouped by age, from four to 11.
“They fully embraced our inclusive model — working closely with students from TK to fourth grade, including those with a variety of learning needs,” Mullings said. “What makes this collaboration especially unique is that their team committed to staying for the full summer session,” she said.
Jeevana stressed the value of self-expression for its own sake.
“We were part of LAUSD art (programs) ourselves,” Jeevana said. “We enjoyed them but also it’s like really structured.”
“We wanted to have this program where you don’t really need to have this structured curriculum,” she said. “There’s room for creative outlet. You can express yourself without this instruction and a standardized curriculum.”
Both students are artists, and their mutual interest in health and social sciences extends to the idea of using art as therapy for people of all ages.
The two cofounders were assisted by several student volunteers from their high school in West Los Angeles, including Kayla Carpenter, 15. “It was one of the best volunteering experiences I’ve had,” Kayla said, describing Barathi and Jeevana as “the most determined, inspiring people I know.”
She said that not only was it easy for the students to feel part of the program, but the volunteers did as well.
“They’re really good at organizing things,” said Sophia Soltis, 16, another student volunteer. “They’re really dedicated. The kids were really entertained (and) there was a lot of improvement from the first to the last week,” Sophia said.
Roxy Zee, 16, another student volunteer, said, “It was fun to interact with the kids and help them with art.” Roxy said, “They were adorable. They had all their own creative ideas and they took a spin on the art that was great to watch.”
Barathi explained, “Kids tend to listen more when it’s one person talking to a table, instead of a teacher instructing them in the beginning and sending them off on their way after. That’s what we really wanted to implement, and they love talking to our volunteers.”
Thao Mokulehua whose children Skye, 5, and Chase, 9, took part in the program, was pleased with their experience.
“It was really wonderful. The kids seemed to really enjoy it,” Mokulehua said. “They came home with a lot of creative art projects,” and she noted that the student teachers connected with her kids.
Assistant principal Mullings said the students loved taking part in the program. “The lessons encouraged them to think creatively and reflect on themselves,” Mullings said. “They built real relationships with students and brought consistent, meaningful art instruction to every grade level,” she said.
Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.