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Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Sunnyvale artist Flo Oy Wong introduced at-risk kids to cave and rock art during her three-year stint as an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth Middle School in San Jose.

Artist brings craft to troubled youth

By Steve Enders

The closing doors of Santa Clara University's de Saisset Museum last Friday marked the end of an exhibit of work by young artists in Arts Connect, a program designed to help troubled students tap into their creative sides.

Arts Connect is funded by the county Office of Education and the state and county arts councils. Through the program, Sunnyvale artist Flo Oy Wong was able to take her knowledge of art to at-risk middle school students--most of whom had never received an art lesson.

Wong was one of only four artists who were selected more than three years ago to participate in the Artist-in-Residency program. The project's goal, Wong said, is to give the kids a chance to succeed in the classroom using art as an aid.

The classes consisted of about 30 students at the Almaden Community School, located on the campus of Dartmouth Middle School in San Jose.

"They need art as a tool to reach themselves," Wong said. "That's what artists do--find their inner voice."

Wong, a mixed-media installation artist, took a unique approach to the classes by using art as a gateway to learn about history, politics and other cultures.

In her own art, she uses tangible objects as symbols and metaphors to highlight her Chinese-American heritage. In the classroom, Wong taught her students how other cultures found art as a way to express themselves while being close to nature.

Over the past four months, Wong took the students through thousands of years of history by introducing them to cave and rock art.

"Rock art is a narrative. It blends fact and fantasy in their lives, and I just exposed them to those ideas," Wong said. "I took what's usually not taught at the middle school level and developed a curriculum for the kids."

She added that the ancient people who practiced the art used to become entranced by dancing before making their paintings and carvings. Although she didn't have her students dance or fall into trances, they still enjoyed it.

"The only stability these kids have is the time they have in the classroom," Wong said. "I'm exposing them to using their energy in a visible and aesthetic way. Respect is a big deal in the classroom, and they found out that someone cares."

Every Thursday, Wong taught classes of six to eight students, giving them short bursts of intensive art lessons. After learning the history and background of the art and life of an artist, the students became versed in the techniques and mediums used by artists.

Wong said it was a challenge to gain the students' trust and confidence. She said she had to assert some authority and become a regular figure in their lives before they really settled down and took the class seriously.

A newcomer to the classroom setting herself, Wong was able to seek guidance from Al Pezino, the regular homeroom teacher at the school.

Pezino said, "We really worked well together, and were on the same page on how to teach the kids. It's really an educational environment here, it's not just free playtime."

One student who succeeded in the program was Jason Von Lin Sowe, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Dartmouth. Wong said his skills as a beginning artist showed "tremendous talent," because he was using advanced techniques on his own that she hadn't even taught.

"He was totally successful. He carved a rock using hammers and nails and modern tools," she said. She added that she was surprised to see a beginning student have the foresight to write down color-mixing formulas.

Von Lin Sowe had a painting and two rocks on display in the museum show called "From Our Hands."

"She showed us more than other teachers," he said. "She taught us to go off on our own, and how to make art--not just copies of other art. I was able to express myself."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 10, 1998.
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