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       It’s a few weeks before Christmas and shoppers are coming into a clothing store off Broad Street in downtown Richmond to check out the latest fashions. But what do they find when they walk in the door?
      Exotically painted sneakers! Elegant stained glass panels! And a small crowd of proud young artists, their families, art teachers and the staff of ART 180, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing youth art classes into community centers and schools around the city.
      Eleven-year-old Chastyn, who attended the sneaker design class at William Byrd Community House, has written next to her hot-pink and orange creation, “The shoes I painted are a fun representation of my personality and myself. I am a strong, bubbly young lady with a lot of fun nicknames. I wanted to use words and some of my favorite colors as the design for my shoes.”
      The stained glass pieces were created at the city’s Highland Park Community Center by kids as well as some of the neighborhood’s senior citizens, who were intrigued by the process. Seniors and young people worked together to learn the complex technique and create multi-colored panels. This spring, students will join the panels into stained glass windows that will be installed at the community center.
ART 180 offered classes at seven other sites throughout Richmond this past fall. The programs culminated in December with four “Open Studio” evenings. Besides the clothing store, students showed work in a fire station, a community center and an art gallery.

Ten Years of Turn-Arounds
     Since 1998, the organization has provided instruction to young people in a variety of creative fields, including painting, poetry, filmmaking, photography and music.
Founded by Marlene Paul and Kathleen Lane, both of whom had worked in advertising, ART 180’s mission is to “give young people the chance to express themselves through art, and to share their stories with others.” The term “180” refers to the turn-around in lives and communities that creative expression can lead to, especially in parts of the city where young people have few opportunities to explore the arts.
     Paul, now ART 180’s executive director, says that before starting, she and Lane made sure they were not replicating services provided by others.
     “All of the organizations we talked to thought it was a great idea but not something they could do themselves, given their limited resources and priorities, so it made sense to partner with them,” Paul says. “I consider the programs that ART 180 delivers to be an extension of the good work our partners are already doing in the community and in the lives of children.”
     ART 180 recruits the teachers and pays for supplies, making it possible for kids to take the classes for free in their own neighborhoods. Paul and her staff have no difficulty finding teachers, called program leaders, among Richmond’s wealth of creative professionals. Equally important is matching teachers and classes to the needs of each partnering organization.
     The teachers receive a small stipend, but their effort is clearly a labor of love. Poet Maurice Jackson says working with the young people is “a beautiful experience. They’ve got so much to say.”
     Jaffray Witherow, who helped teach the shoe design class, says that “the kids’ attitude and artwork are really refreshing. They bring a lot of resolve to their work.”
As ART 180 enters its second decade, it’s a good time to take a look at its accomplishments and its goals for the coming years.

The Art of Change
     ART 180’s innovative approach—bringing art classes to young people in familiar surroundings—has received strong support from local and national funders. But how does art change lives, especially when the day-to-day circumstances of living are often so difficult? How can creativity change communities?
     “We know that art won’t solve all the world’s problems and we realize these youth have a lot of needs,” says Aimee Koch, ART 180’s development manager. Still, she believes that the sense of personal accomplishment the students experience, the ability to express—in words, music or visual arts—what is on their minds, is tremendously beneficial.
Tristana Trani, vice president of ART 180’s board of trustees, definitely agrees. “Any time a child can step back from something they have created and say ‘Wow, I did this,’ that changes them.”
      It may change families’ perceptions of these youngsters as well. Eric Anderson, ART 180’s program manager, talks about how proud parents are when they see their children’s work for the first time: “‘You did that?’ they say. ‘I did not realize my child had that much talent.’”

Benefits that Last a Lifetime
     At the Open Studios, family members beam at the young people’s art and performances and speak enthusiastically of their children’s involvement.
     Marsha Ross, whose son and daughter were in a class that created a music video, says that they would come home from class excited to practice their music and they couldn’t wait for everyone to see the finished product at the end of the semester.
     There also may be strong practical benefits for the youth who take ART 180 classes. At Highland Park, where the stained glass course took place, staff member Diane Lilly remarks that having patience and following directions—both required for learning the craft—are skills that young people can take to school. Linwood Richardson, a Highland Park volunteer who observed the course, says that young people learn how to work together and do things they think they cannot do.
     Anderson believes that the classes can inspire youth to think about careers they might never have considered. “One of the things that I’m trying to do is not only teach them art and get them to express themselves, but also to do art projects that hopefully start career options. Not only can you do art for fun, but you can make a living at it.”
     This potential is heightened by the fact that ART 180 students are taught by working professionals and get to use high-quality supplies and state-of-the-art equipment.
Young people in the music video class, for example, went to a local studio to record their song and learn about editing and other post-production techniques. Sixteen-year-old Charles, a member of the class, was intrigued by the technical aspects of video making and wants to find out more about this field.

Community-wide Effects
     How does this kind of creative expression change communities? Sometimes change comes from the art itself, as with the outdoor mural painted by ART 180 students in Church Hill. But change can be more subtle.
     “A lot of it is about dialogue,” says Koch, “about starting conversations in different ways.”
     This past fall, filmmakers helped students, many of them young boys, create a documentary in which they talked about their role models. “There’s a lot of struggle with that issue, about finding male role models,” Koch notes.
     “We as a community need to have a dialogue about why there aren’t more male role models for the youth and how we can change that, because if those youth aren’t bringing up that kind of conversation, we as a community aren’t going to have it.”
ART 180’s work has been recognized this year by Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders award, which provides $200,000 over two years in operating expenses and leadership training to non-profits that serve communities.
     Victor Branch, the Bank of America vice president who coordinates the award program, praises ART 180’s collaborative approach. “They work through partners, they bring programs into existing venues and enhance or complement what that organization can provide.”

Assessing the Outcomes
     While success may tempt some non-profits to overextend themselves, Marlene Paul emphasizes that ART 180 stays focused on its core goals. “I’ve never cared about growing for the sake of growing or seeing ART 180’s name all over the place,” she says. “There are always ways you can improve on what you’re doing, and getting bigger doesn’t necessarily address that.”
    One way to improve on what you’re doing is to assess what you have already done. Koch notes that it has been difficult to systematically track the young people who have taken ART 180 classes. Many of them are in transient housing and family situations, although some are able to take classes over a period of time.
      Starting this year, ART 180 is working with Dr. Holly Matto, professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, to gather data from the students, teachers and staff members at the neighborhood sites. With this information, they will assess how the art classes are meeting ART 180’s objectives as well as child development goals.
      Paul also would like to see ART 180 “push the envelope a bit more” with its programs, “presenting themes that will challenge our students so they can challenge the community,” she explains. “Too often we underestimate kids, and too often they underestimate themselves. It’s really not about developing art skills, it’s about developing people—and art can do that.”

Looking to the Future
     In the next few years, says Eric Anderson, ART 180 hopes to expand the number of class sites to include all of the city’s public middle schools. This will support the recent decision by ART 180’s board to focus efforts on middle-school-age youth. Right now ART 180 offers classes at a few middle and elementary schools each year, but Anderson envisions a direct partnership with Richmond Public Schools.
     ART 180 has demonstrated its appeal to foundations and corporate funders. The next step is to encourage more giving by individuals. “It’s really our dream to be funded by the community that we serve,” says Aimee Koch, “to be funded by the people of Richmond so that we can provide these programs to the youth of Richmond.”
     One important opportunity for this is ART 180’s “Big Show,” held each May, where students, families, teachers, community members and donors come together to honor the young artists’ achievements.
     “You can’t leave those events not feeling like you have a stake in the lives of our young people,” says board member Trani. “You see the importance of supporting those beyond your own circle of family and friends.”
     It’s true—it is hard not to be caught up in the enthusiasm and joy young people’s creativity inspires. The music video and the documentary about role models premiered in December at the final Open Studio event, held at Art Works Studios and Galleries. The students hadn’t seen the final versions yet, and suddenly there they all were, on screen, telling the world what they feel, in their own words, with their own strong voices.

Liz Sheehan is a writer, cultural anthropologist and one-time art student who lives in the Richmond area.

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