COMMUNICATING VIA CAMERA.Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-GuardIf there's an overall theme to "US," a photo exhibit featuring images by teens from the Martin Luther King Jr. Education Center, it is the idea that the youths who end up in the juvenile justice system are more than just "bad kids." "Yeah, we mess up sometimes, but we're actually good people," said Vincenzo Deherrera, 15, one of the teens who took part in the show. "It was pretty cool that we had the opportunity to do something like this, to get out in the community." The 18 images and two collages that make up the exhibit, which runs through Nov. 27 at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → (DIVA), were made by a group of about a dozen students ages 13 to 18 from the MLK MLK Martin Luther King MLK Milk MLK Medialess License Kit center. The court-mandated school, which was previously known as the Court School, is located at the John Serbu Youth Campus and is intended for juveniles in transition between detention and the school system. "Anything is possible" is the message that Deherrera says he is taking away from the photography show. An avid skateboarder who hopes to become a lawyer some day, he seemed surprised on Wednesday to find himself inside an art gallery helping hang photographs for his own exhibition. While Deherrera gave an interview to a TV station, Ashleigh Noland, 16, played the role of photography curator. Working with volunteers from the Emerald Photographic Center, she made the executive decision to hang photos at two levels. "It's more `us' to have them `off' (center) like that," she said. The photos in the show are meant to convey what the teens see as stereotypes about themselves, and they are mixed with images that counteract those stereotypes. A photo of a young woman with a pregnant belly hangs near an image of a teen blowing smoke into the camera. There are close-ups of pierced pierced adj. 1. Cut through with a sharp instrument; perforated. 2. Of or relating to a body part that has been perforated for the purpose of attaching a piece of jewelry. 3. ears and studded stud 1 n. 1. An upright post in the framework of a wall for supporting sheets of lath, wallboard, or similar material. 2. A small knob, nail head, or rivet fixed in and slightly projecting from a surface. 3. eyebrows and portraits of young men and women standing in isolation against graffiti-covered walls and chain-link fences. In some cases, it's hard to tell which images are the stereotypes and which are the real images the teens are hoping to portray and that's exactly the point, says Josh Provost PROVOST. A title given to the chief of some corporations or societies. In France, this title was formerly given to some presiding judges. The word is derived from the Latin praepositus. , 16, a student who has several pieces in the show including the image of the smoking youth. "Just because you smoke doesn't mean that you're a bad kid," Provost said. "We're not trying to look cool, we got addicted ad·dict·ed adj. 1. Physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance. 2. Compulsively or habitually involved in a practice or behavior, such as gambling. and now we're stuck with it." Lisa Williams Lisa Williams (born in Birmingham, England) is a self-described medium and clairvoyant starring in a show on Lifetime called Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead. The show follows Williams on a typical day, as she allegedly communicates with the dead, investigates haunted , the instigator in·sti·gate tr.v. in·sti·gat·ed, in·sti·gat·ing, in·sti·gates 1. To urge on; goad. 2. To stir up; foment. [Latin of the photo project, says the exhibit has helped the teens in a number of ways. "It's given them a way to recast re·cast tr.v. re·cast, re·cast·ing, re·casts 1. To mold again: recast a bell. 2. their own images," said Williams, who serves as job and life skills instructor at the education center. "At first, I don't think it was personal to them, I think they just liked the concept, but they've really taken it on. They've started to talk about themselves in different ways." Williams, who started handing out cameras to teens in her life skills class in September, says the project quickly mushroomed into something much bigger than she had imagined. She contacted DIVA in the hopes of finding a gallery space. Soon the Emerald Photographic Society, the city of Eugene, Evergreen evergreen, term commonly used as synonymous with conifer and applied also to all those broad-leaved plants that bear green leaves throughout the year. Of the latter, most are plants of the tropics, subtropics, and other areas where the growing season is prolonged (e. Film Service and Raven raven, common name for the largest member of the family Corvidae (crow family), ranging throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The raven, Corvus corax, is a glossy black scavenging bird about 26 in. Frame Works had signed on as sponsors. "It's become a real community effort," said Carolezoom Patterson, program manager at DIVA. "It's meant as much for the (photography) club members and the community members as it's meant to the kids." Patterson says one of her hopes is to attract more artists from marginalized backgrounds who might not otherwise be able to have their work shown. Bob Petit PETIT, sometimes corrupted into petty. A French word signifying little, small. It is frequently used, as petit larceny, petit jury, petit treason. PETIT, TREASON, English law. The killing of a master by his servant; a husband by his wife; a superior by a secular or religious man. , a member of the Emerald Photographic Society who helped with the show, says the students have something to say with their cameras. "It's really interesting when you begin to see this creative energy, this creative talent," Petit said. "A friend of mine says when kids work with art, it really comes from the inside." US What: A youth photo exhibit featuring images shot by students at the Martin Luther King Jr. Education Center When: Exhibit runs today through Nov. 27; opening reception at 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, 110 W. Broadway How Much: Free Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 9 p.m. this Friday Also: For more information, call 344-3482 or go to www.divanow.org CAPTION(S): Josh Provost and Ashleigh Noland hang their photographic works in the DIVA gallery Wednesday. The photographs are meant to convey what the teens see as stereotypes about themselves, and they are mixed with images that counteract those stereotypes. The exhibit runs today through Nov. 27. A collage collage (kəläzh`, kō–) [Fr.,=pasting], technique in art consisting of cutting and pasting natural or manufactured materials to a painted or unpainted surface—hence, a work of art in this medium. is one of the pieces in the "US" show, a venture that has become what a gallery program manager calls `a real community effort.' |
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