We are wrapping up another amazing school year – I can hardly believe it is almost over! I have a stack of paintings in my office that are testament to the vast and inspiring creativity of the young painters we are fortunate to work with. Here is a sampling of the paintings done in out last class at Malcolm X Academy by some truly outstanding first graders. The topic was Kindness.

This is me giving a flower to a girl in my class ~ Markey

Ava was crying so I put my arm around her to make her feel better ~ Thana

I got my neighbor's newspaper for him. I knocked on the door and gave it to him so he didn't have to go out and get it ~ Isenhower

The nice thing that happen to me was Isenhower did my homework ~ Lamont

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. While I love that we have a special day to honor our planet, our young painters regularly use images from nature to express themselves.

They seem to know instinctively that the natural world can offer a sense of respite from their daily lives. As Hall Borland said in Sundial of the Seasons, “You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.”

Their recognition of the natural world connects our young painters to a host of artists, thinkers and activists who encourage us to contemplate our interconnectedness on Earth Day.

In honor of this day, I offer an incomplete collection of Earth-inspired paintings from Brush Fire painters along with quotes from a smattering of notable personalities. Happy Earth Day!

The earth is what we all have in common. – Wendell Barry

The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if they will but cultivate her soil in justice and in peace. – Bourke Coekran

There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet. – Brooke Medicine Eagle

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. – William Shakespeare

Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values…. – Charles A. Lindbergh

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. – John Muir

You are lost if you forget that the fruits of the earth belong to all and the earth to no one! – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. - E.B. White

Do you have a Favorite Earth Day quote? Does nature inform your creative practice? Please share!

The cuts to education are getting worse, but our kids still need to express themselves! Join us for an evening of music, comedy, and fun and help keep Brush Fire’s innovative expressive arts classes in schools.

Our evening features: Professional hair & make up styling! Henna Tattoos! Body painting! Tarot card reading! Chinese tea service! Food! Drinks! Music! Comedy! Art!

When: Saturday, May 22nd, 7 – 9 pm

Where: Mr. Smiths @ 34 7th Street, SF (Between Market & Mission)

What: Hosted by Comedy duo FIFI & FANNY

Music by ANDRE DOS SANTOS  MORGAN & special guests

RAFFLE & silent art AUCTION

Food by WHOLE FOODS & TRADER JOE’S

Tickets are $10 in advance & can be purchased here.

Tickets at the door are sliding scale $15 – $40.

We just posted the latest round of paintings from our program at the Youth Services Center in San Mateo on our Facebook page. If you have not seen them, please check them out. Just go to Facebook and search for Brush Fire Painting Workshops. While you are there, become a fan to get regular updates.

In the mean time, here are a few more paintings from our girls in the hall.

Who do I have to forgive? Myself. Because if I don’t forgive myself I won’t be internally happy with me. If I just walk around angry, I won’t truly get the aspects of life. If I don’t forgive myself for the times I’ve done unlawful things, I won’t believe. For I see forgiveness is the key to my heart. ~ Jazmine

This painting is about what I have to put down or pick up to have my ideal life. The fireworks are how I feel on drugs. This is what distracts me from my ideal life. If I continue to stay on drugs, I will hit rock bottom. The sparkle dots show my confusion. ~ Megan

I am thinking about giving up on life. How do I let go of pain? I’m thinking about my boyfriend – I am really in love – and getting out and being free. My best friend, why did he kill himself? Is all of this happening for a reason? ~ Miriam

Can making art change our communities? We know in our bones that it does, but articulating how can be challenging. How can creativity promote social justice? Consider this:

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality,” wrote Buckminster Fuller. “To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Socrates said something similar: “The secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

Do you think art can be an agent for social change?

We’d like to give a shout out to Habitot Children’s Museum, the East Bay’s award-winning hands-on discovery museum for young children.

Habitot’s Guide to Nurturing Creativity includes many of Brush Fire’s foundation ideas, which are applicable to any adult participation in art activities with children and youth of all ages. Here’s an excerpt from the Guide:

Avoid Surveillance: Being creative takes time and privacy. Don’t hover – it’s ok to walk away and come back, or do a little art on your own. Children will enjoy the “parallel play.” Try to restrain yourself in your supervision; step in only when someone might be hurt. Nothing limits creativity like an adult being overly concerned about making a mess or “not doing it right.”

Relinquish Control: Try not to be too involved in the child’s art making. You may make her feel that the art is not really hers. Accept the artwork as it is, “mistakes” and all. Appreciate that how a child draws is necessary for his development.

Limit Evaluation: When you look at the artwork, do not ask, “What is that?” This puts the child on the defensive, especially because she may not know what it is. “Tell me about it” elicits communication from the child and will build trust. You may discover your child has a detailed description of the piece. Be delighted and interested! Avoid judgments such as, “That looks like an elephant,” which will disappoint the child greatly if he was drawing a castle.

Squelch Competition: Try not to comment on artwork in a way that promotes comparison among children or against the adult standard of what something “should” look like. Treasure each work of art for its unique expression of self.

Modify Praise: Praise often backfires, particularly when it involves approval of the final product. Praise the effort instead: “You worked really hard on this!” Avoid general praise. Your child will devalue your praise over time and will certainly notice if you fail to praise on occasion.

Habitot’s mission is to nurture and enrich the lives of young children, their families, and the adults who care for them by providing an environment for early childhood learning and exploration, parenting education and community outreach. For more information, please click here.

Thanks to out friends at the Togetherville Blog for this post:

The No Name Calling Week campaign kicks off today!

Since 2004, No Name Calling Week (launched by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and Simon and Schuster Publishing) has been  providing anti-bullying resources to schools and youth-serving organizations.

A hallmark of the No Name Calling Week campaign is the annual Creative Expression Contest for students in grades K-12. Art is an excellent medium for exploring a topic as personal and painful as bullying. Art is also, ironically, one of the ways kids can be vulnerable to teasing and name-calling. One of our favorite creative tools for kids is Scratch, a website designed by the MIT Media Lab, where kids can “create and share interactive stories, games, music and art.”

Alexander, a Togetherville kiddo, spent an afternoon with his grandma creating his very own game on Scratch. Jessica, Alexander’s mom, spent some time on Scratch after seeing his proud creation, checking out the other creations and comments. She found that a lot of kids write disclaimers underneath their artwork. “I did this really quick, while my mom was at the store. Please don’t make fun of it!” or “Please don’t diss my game, it was my first try!!”

Kids are creators, and now they have a global audience of peers to critique their work. So, the kids have to either beg for their work to not be torn apart, the kids feel the need to bring themselves down before someone else does. As if to say, “I know you’re going to tease me, so I’m beating you to it so it doesn’t hurt as much.”

Even a 20-second stop-action Lego video on YouTube takes hours of work but kids feel the need to downplay their creativity, “My camera was bad so it’s not very good” or “This is my first video about a new worker at the zoo, I know it sucks.” When a kid puts him or herself “out there”, they’re open to potentially hurtful critique. But they create anyway. That’s why we want you to challenge your kids this week – and every week – to comment with care. Show them how to use constructive, not cruel, language when responding to someone else’s creative expression.

For the entire post on the Togetherville Blog, including Lego Video, click here.

For more information about the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, click here

Today I am reflecting on the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how his work shapes my thinking about Brush Fire as a tool for social justice. Dr. King said, “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” I feel the truth of this quote in my heart. We all benefit from exposure to a multitude of perspectives, be they political, artistic, or religious. And we all become stronger when our thoughts and feelings are respected in the public sphere.

Unfortunately, many of Brush Fire’s students experience numerous socio-economic barriers that impede success. They experience higher levels of poverty, violence, pregnancy, and high-school dropout rates. Our black and Latino students are three times more likely than white students to attend a “dropout factory”—a school with graduation rates of 60% or less. As dropout rates rise, so does the potential for our students to engage in crime and live in poverty as adults. Being incarcerated at a higher proportion, the voices of people of color are effectively removed from the public sphere and we all are poorer as a result.

These staggering statistics demonstrate the crucial need for our students to engage in activities that develop resilience. Resilience is a compilation of personal strengths, such as self-esteem, a sense of purpose, and a sense of belonging, that help young people combat risk factors and adapt positively to negative environmental influences. They also need activities that engage their interests, boost learning, and support overall healthy youth development.

Brush Fire aims to shore up our students’ resilience by helping them develop social competencies, such as self-esteem, self-control, collaboration, and empathy, that will keep them out of jail and participating in our communities. It is my sincere hope that the more they trust their creativity as they paint, the more they trust their creativity when they are out in the world, giving us all the gift of their unique perspective and the fruits of their action in the world.

click here to watch an artist at work, inspired by Dr. King’s famous speech.

"Painting makes me happy!" 1st grader, Rosa Parks Elementary School

Thanks to our supporters (that’s you!) Brush Fire had a big, beautiful 2009 – reaching a record number of kids with our innovative, process-based art programs, creating new partnerships with San Mateo Juvenile Hall, Camp Kemp and 10 new schools in San Francisco, all the while providing opportunities for underserved youth express their deepest fears and desires in living color.

We are so grateful for your on-going support. With your end-of-year donation we can keep up this beautiful momentum and continue to help youth value themselves as strong, creative members of our community with valuable things to say.

I like painting because it's a great way to relieve stress. I love to express myself even though I"m different." 9th grader, Mission High School

To make a secure online donation using your credit card, please visit the website of our fiscal sponsor, Intersection for the Arts, at www.theintersecton.org. Click on ‘make a donation,’ then scroll down and hit the purple ‘donate now’ button. Fill out the donation form and select Brush Fire Painting from the drop-down menu under “where would you like to direct your donation? Every donation, regardless of size, helps us fulfill our mission.

From all of us at Brush Fire Painting Workshops, thanks in advance for your generosity!

We were beyond thrilled to bring Brush Fire Panting Workshops to Camp Kemp, just down the hill from San Mateo Youth Services Center.

Opened in the fall of 2006, the Margaret J. Kemp Camp for Girls houses young women of San Mateo County between the ages of 13 and 18 who are facing current criminal charges and suffering from substance abuse and mental health problems.

Here is a sample of the work the girls did during our 8-week workshop:

My painting is about my lovely planned future. My favorite parts are the marriage ring, because I would love to get married and have a baby someday, and my planned house because it is exactly how I want it in the future. I also like the money because I know how I want to spend it (wisely). I like that it is so detailed. I am a very optimistic person and I have my life planned for the future. ~Marilyn

This painting is about how everything in my life is black and white and that I feel like my life is fading. The colors express my feelings: sad, confused, and anxious. This picture says I that I’m growing up. But half my teenage years I’ve been on probation for all the times I’ve missed by being locked up, which makes me feel I lost a lot that I could have been out doing. I’ma be 18. I don’t have time for kid s*** no more. ~Raquel

I went on a pass with my mom this week and we got along really well. I felt really happy and loved. I got closer to my mom and I have mixed emotions because this week is my dad’s death anniversary, so it’s weird because I’m happy when I should be feeling sad. The colors in separate places represent different emotions. The spirals represent confusion and the colors coming together show the emotions coming together. ~Natalie

For more paintings done at Camp Kemp, please go to Brush Fire’s facebook page by clicking on the facebook button at the top of this page. While you are there, please become a fan to get regular updates!