Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by George Sakkestad Maricel Villena (in front) and Linda Ma, both students at Ocala School, helped paint the mural at the Outhouse. Teen Center mural project unites young people in art By Michelle Alaimo A Place for Teens was bustling with activity when approximately 100 students from East San Jose and Los Gatos came together to paint a mural. The Uniting Youth Through Art Mural Conference, held Oct. 23., allowed middle and high school students to come together and learn about art. "The goal is to unite different youth from different backgrounds and ethnicities through art," Laurie Scolari, director of A Place for Teens--also known as the Outhouse--said. Scolari invited students from Los Gatos High School, Fisher Middle School, Joseph George Middle School in East San Jose and Ocala in San Jose to the four-hour afternoon event. In August the Outhouse invited students to send in drawings with a theme of sports, youth, community, music or a creative idea. Drawings were then selected, with some of the students' ideas being painted on an inside wall in the Outhouse. Paul Gonzalaz, a muralist with the city of San Jose's anti-graffiti program, designed the mural using some concepts from students and some of his own. The mural includes flying saucers, cats, a venus flytrap and a butterfly. The design also plays on the natural wooded surrounding that is seen through a window on the mural wall. "I just came up with my own theme that was influenced by the surroundings," Gonzalaz said. Students were allowed to let their imagination go and use any colors they wished on the painting. At the end of the workshop, Gonzalaz went back, blending the colors for a more even flow. In addition to being able to paint on the mural, students also participated in a number of workshops, including Behind the Scenes of Making a Movie, Watercolor Painting Techniques and the Art of Jewelry. They were also introduced to many other art forms. LGHS 10th grader Shelly Burger said she was enjoying the event. She was particularly interested in painting the mural "It's something I want to do when I'm older." Scolari said, "We're trying to take all the kids to show them a positive way to use art." She added that some of the participants in the mural project had been known to do tagging and graffiti on schools. She first got the idea for the conference when she worked with middle schools in East San Jose before becoming the Teen Center director. Scolari said she wanted to help teach kids that they all have something in common, no matter where they are from. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 11, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.