Art 1212

Hello- I’m Tim Rodgers

I work on the media and publications for Little Lights Urban Ministries and also teach a small art class after-school each Tuesday from 3:30pm -6:00pm. This semester I wanted our middle school kids to focus on making books. We started off the year with the theme “This is Me”. Each week I would have a question or a phrase ready for them to address during class. These questions would be along the lines of, “What angers you the most?” and “What are a few of your favorite things?”

The results were outstanding and many of the kids surprised me with their responses.

One of the students when asked what angers him proceeded to draw a scene of violence that was done sequentially, similar to a comic strip. In the first panel it showed two stick figures in confrontation, where a gun was pulled and the other stick figure ended up getting shot and dying. His answer to the question being violence angers him the most. 

I also get to see first hand just how talented our kids are and how uniquely they all address the same problem.

We also currently have a volunteer that comes out to help us during class. Her name is Mrs. Katie.

She’s an amazing artist and makes some pretty nice books by hand. She showed our kids how to make their own paper and they were pretty excited and watched her intently.

The kids are enjoying having her presence in class and it’s also a great opportunity for me to learn from her.

It’s interesting playing these two roles here at Little Lights. On the one hand I have to make sure Little Lights newsletters, and promotional materials get out to our various donors and volunteers on time, and on the other I get to play around and teach kids a little something about art. It’s definitely a brain switch and a pretty awesome experience!!!

Check out more photos from art class on our Flickr page.