Troubled Youth, Creative Path: Program uses art to redirect at-risk kids

Olga de Klein and Bill Weaver sit in a classroom wall in the Juvenile Detention Center at Hamilton County Juvenile Court in front of a mura painted by juvenile detainees.
Olga de Klein and Bill Weaver sit in a classroom wall in the Juvenile Detention Center at Hamilton County Juvenile Court in front of a mura painted by juvenile detainees.

Some of the kids have never held a crayon, never had a chance to be creative.

But in the most unusual of circumstances, in a most unlikely place, a growing group of local children and teens are being introduced to the fun of making art. Youngsters being held in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center are taking a weekly art class where they're learning to paint, draw, take photographs, write poetry and more.

The program was founded by local artists Olga de Klein and Rondell Crier in February 2014 and made possible through local MakeWork and Art Builds grants. Today, though, funds are running low and the artists are hoping for more money.

"Art engages the students and it makes them lose touch -- for a moment in time -- with what they're there for," says de Klein. "They become focused on something positive. It's teaching them to build trust and that we're there for them and we're coming back."

photo Artwork created by a juvenile detainee.

Bill Weaver, who handles the regular teaching duties for the kids while they're in the center, says the youth have truly latched onto the art program.

"We have a lot of different programs, but this is the one they look forward to the most," he says. "A lot of kids will ask when are the art people coming. We've never had that type of reaction to a program before. They participate and ask questions. They seem to be genuinely interested in it."

To date, more than 500 juveniles -- 80 percent male, 20 percent female -- have participated.

But first the program had to get approval from Weaver and Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw.

photo Artwork created by a juvenile detainee.

"You have to keep in mind, we have a lot of people who want to do things," Philyaw says. "Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Longevity and commitment are important.

"It's a temporary facility (the detention center). They're not here for punishment or long-term treatment. They're here for pretrial, but that can sometimes be weeks; sometimes a few months," he says. "We just don't warehouse them when they're here."

That's one of the reasons why Mr. Weaver is with them. We're planting an idea that we can engage them in something productive while introducing them to the possibility of graduating from high school and more."

Weaver says the art program gives many kids in the center the chance to do something that other kids take for granted.

photo Artwork created by a juvenile detainee.

"For a normal kid growing up, coloring is a natural stage and I don't think these kids got a lot of that," Weaver says. "I think this is a chance they always wanted -- to color in a coloring book, to use colored pencils and draw.

De Klein notes that several local artists are working in the program, including photographers, culinary artists, poets, and more.

"We're not sure what the kids will respond to," Crier says. "The idea is to connect them with something and once they resonate with what they're being taught that day, they can make the connection with their heart and then we try to connect them with the artist when they get out."

Many of the program's participants are "rough and tough, older teenage boys," Philyaw says, but even they've responded to making art. Most of them take their work with them when they leave the center, he says.

"That reassures me that the art program is a good thing. There is a sense of accomplishment," he says.

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.

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