The Superior Industrial School of Valparaiso is a large orange school that resembles a factory and is full of hundreds of teenage boys (only about twenty girls are sprinkled in the sea of testosterone) who preparing for technical careers -- mechanics, electricity, metallics, etc. It sits right on the highway in between Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. Through a friend of a friend, I ended up there and have been drawn back every day since my first visit. Denisse Montenegro Olguín teaches art at this school. Energetic, eccentric, stylish, and seeping enthusiasm, she is the perfect ally for my project. She lets me hover in her class, sit next to her at her desk and observe, ask question after question -- and she's stoked about the exposition.
"Everybody!" Denisse yells in a big shell of a classroom to introduce me. The students only have art class once a week, so each class I attend is new to me. In the room, huge windows overlook the highway and the ocean, and starch white walls make the cold, gray days even colder and grayer. "This is Liza. She's studying art in schools and will be here to observe you guys. Be good!" Almost forty teenage boys who have been either staring at me or murmuring to their classmates about me before the introduction, greet me in unison and then while most go back to chatting, some ask questions in scattered English or rapid-fire Spanish. "Where you from?" "Ms., what your name?" When I'm feeling ballsy I walk around and start conversations. The other day one boy convinced me to sketch a picture for him while his friends asked me if I knew anything about hydraulic shops in Miami.
While a lot of the students seem to view the obligatory art class as a time to talk to their friends and listen to horrible quality reggaetone on their cell phones while dragging a colored pencil across some paper, I have met a group of students that is passionate about art. Twice a week, apart from their regular classes, about 18 kids meet for an hour for an art workshop, where they do sketches and paintings. They are my saviors. Not only have they befriended me (greeting me with a "Liza!" and a kiss on the cheek every time they see me), accompanied me around the school to protect me from the other boys and even on the bus into Valparaiso, invited me to do some graffiti with them, and answered my questions enthusiastically, but they are also excited to put their artwork in the exposition!
Back at the casa, I've been enjoying some chilean family time. Made pancakes last week for Mother's Day. Went to my brother's school party for families last night. Also helped my brother paint his wall.
Chao, Love
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| Picture I painted in Sebastian's room |
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| Some murals at the school done by students |
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