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Artists provide Acalanes students with unique perspectives

By Sandy Mouat
CORRESPONDENT

More than 30 visiting artists conducted seminars, made presentations and gave lessons during Arts Focus Week at Acalanes High School. Each student had the difficult task of choosing just two of the seminars to attend.
          The week began with a kickoff assembly featuring guest speaker Wavy Gravy, the Bay Area social activist and operator of Winnarainbow, a performing arts summer camp. Also included were showcases for the school's elective programs, with performances by the students in orchestra, band and chorus as well as by drama students.
          Sponsored by the Lafayette Arts & Science Foundation, the event was organized in cooperation with the Acalanes faculty and the Parents Club.
          "Arts Focus Week was about examining the importance of balance and creativity in our lives," said Principal Keith Schmidt. "Students in a highly academic school like Acalanes feel a constant pressure to forsake balance in their high school career by seeking only academic experiences."
          While noting the importance of academics, Schmidt said he wants students to become fully developed adults : "people who are creative and appreciative of a broad band of the human experience."
          During the African drumming class, all of the students joined in with presenter Tacuma King, Bay Area teacher and performer, using authentic African "boom whackers" to learn traditional beats. King demonstrated several other drums while describing the tradition of drum adornment.
          The blues harmonica program was presented by Will Scarlett, a guest artist who has toured and recorded with several successful bands, as well as patented his own harmonica designs. Along with a friend on blues guitar, he was joined in music-making by students who brought their own harmonicas.
         In his film special effects seminar, Joel Hynek of Manex Visual Effects made the thought-provoking point that the development of sophisticated computer software, while making possible unprecedented and amazing special effects, inherently creates a constant challenge to use such tools to go further to suspend the disbelief of the viewer.
          An Academy Award winner for his work on the movie "What Dreams May Come," he demonstrated via videotape the processes involved in creating the special effects for that movie as well as for "The Matrix" and "Eraser."
          Consumer product design was presented by one of the world's leading design companies, Frog Design. Tyler Garland, managing director of product development for the company's San Francisco office, discussed how a design concept is turned into market success.
          He and designer Freddy Anzures enjoy participating in student outreach programs because they want to spread the word that art can become a "day job." With industrial arts, one can use artistic talent as a creative means to a very practical end.
          In an engaging seminar about claymation, Ryan McCulloch gave students the opportunity to learn about filmmaking at home, including story-boarding, character creation, the process of stop-action clay animation and marketing the completed projects. McCulloch, a junior at Vacaville High School, has been making award-winning films and clay animations since he was 13. His work has been featured in more than 40 film festivals, TV commercials and HBO.
          Barrett Lindsay-Steiner's improvisation class taught students how to create believable characters and environments on stage. An experienced writer and director of children's theatrical programs, Lindsay-Steiner is the drama specialist for several local schools, as well as the composer in residence for the Contra Costa Children's Chorus.
          Students who chose the architecture seminar participated in an inspiring talk with Bill Olin, founder of Architecture for Social Responsibility, which specializes in low-income, senior and family housing, along with homeless shelters.
          The popular swing dancing class was taught by Gail Enright, a Bay Area dance teacher and president of the San Francisco Waltzing Society.
          Besides the keynote speech, Wavy Gravy also presented a class on physical comedy. In this amusing and dynamic session, students learned about circus and performing arts, and the art of timing and balance.
         Students also attended seminars on clothing design, computer game animation and music, flamenco guitar, jazz/hip hop, painting and drawing, photography, poetry and storytelling, salsa, sculpture and stage makeup.

5/00 Reprinted with permission. Visit the Contra Costa Times on the web at www.contracostatimes.com.

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