Pre-school children were given disposable cameras during the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's "Arts in Motion" program. Courtesy image.
This summer, 25 pre-school students from Storyteller Children’s Center worked with Tina Villadolid, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art teaching artist, creating photographic portraits inspired by the current exhibition, Portrayal/Betrayal, through the Museum’s Art in Motion (AIM) program, the museum reported this week in a media release.
AIM traditionally has served at-risk and low-income youth in Santa Barbara, encouraging participants to use the museum as a family resource, and providing a joyful means of making connections between themselves and the world around them through art, the museum reported.
The resulting work from this recent collaboration is now on view in the Museum Store windows through Aug. 23.
The program started with a family field trip to the museum where multi-generations viewed and discussed the photographic portraits on view in Portrayal/Betrayal during a bilingual docent tour. The students then created drawings and collages of the basic shapes contained in the human face, and focused on making specific portraits of family and friends (sometimes set in and interacting with their environment). After their initial explorations with pencil and paper, the pre-schoolers were given disposable black and white film cameras, so they could take turns being both the subject and the photographer. Behind the lens they each directed the overall composition — passionately executing their unique point of view through poses, framing, and setting selection. The resulting images profoundly capture the perspectives of 5-year-old children and reinforce the power of portraiture.
“Every year, I am astonished at the beautiful work that Storyteller children and their families create with the love and support of SBMA Teaching Artist, Tina Villadolid,” Terri Allison, executive director of Storyteller Children’s Center, stated in the release. “Our partnership enriches our program in so many unique ways and connects our families with the rich resources of the Museum.”
Storyteller Children’s Center is a nonprofit organization providing quality, tuition-free early childhood education for homeless and at-risk children, as well as comprehensive support services for their families since 1988.
“It was an ongoing odyssey figuring out how to teach the young Storyteller students how to develop an eye for photography,” Villadolid stated in the release. “Quite often, the class would suddenly disperse to all corners of the room — clearly having had their fill of having to pose or listen to instructions — but like magic, each student became focused and calm once I handed them the camera. In reviewing the photos taken by both the students and their family members, I was often startled by the beauty of the images. There is both a frankness and a poetic nature to them.”
Pre-school children were given disposable cameras during the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's "Arts in Motion" program. Courtesy image.
Pre-school children were given disposable cameras during the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's "Arts in Motion" program. Courtesy image.
Pre-school children were given disposable cameras during the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's "Arts in Motion" program. Courtesy image.
Pre-school children were given disposable cameras during the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's "Arts in Motion" program. Here, SBMA Teaching Artist Tina Villadolid works with the young photographers from the Storyteller Children's Center. Courtesy image.