Partners of Delta, Montrose, Ouray
Keeping In-Step with Kids through Art
By Rose Fredrick

“Kids don’t want to be called ‘junior’,” said Gayle Davidson, executive director of Partners of Delta, Montrose and Ouray. “We call them ‘artist interns.’”
 
That’s one of the many changes that Partners, a non-profit mentoring program, made not long ago as a way to address the constantly shifting sensibilities of their clientele: at risk youth or, as they say, good kids who have made some bad choices. The organization has been so successful in improving the lives of kids, partly because they’ve been able to keep up with contemporary culture through a Teen Advisory Board. Changes like shifting the focus away from the traditional student/teacher concept to one of collaboration, have kept teens engaged. “This is the kind of energy we want to create here,” said Davidson, “it feeds you and the young person as well.”

The program pairs children and teens ages six to seventeen, who have been referred by the police or concerned teachers, with trained adult volunteers in a structured and supported three-month mentoring apprenticeship. Of their innovative program initiated in September 1999, Davidson explained, that they needed to react to a couple of stunning factors: the declining age of youth participants being referred to the mentoring program and an alarming number of violent incidents involving teenagers throughout the county. She said, “We really saw a desire for creative and engaging programs in this rural area where resources for teens are scarce.”

The partners meet for three hours a week to work on a project together. This can include visiting galleries and studios, painting and sketching outdoors, or learning to play an instrument. Each team is asked to create one work of art for Partners over the course of the three-month apprenticeship. These completed projects are displayed and sold in the annual Art Partners Exhibition, which includes work by adult mentors as well, with kids in the performing arts programs presenting at the opening reception.

The results of these partnerships have been dramatic, the rewards plentiful – and not just for the kids. “From the artists’ perspective,” explained Davidson, “they say it revitalizes their work. We don’t realize just how jaded we’ve become. I think of myself as idealistic but when I hang out with a sixteen year old I realize just how cynical I’ve become,” she said, laughing. “It’s true with our artists; they are seeing the world through different eyes. There’s nothing like it.”

There is also nothing like the bond that forms, particularly with kids learning music. “We had a lonely little girl,” recalled Davidson, “an only child living with her grandparents -- both her parents are incarcerated -- and she wanted to learn to play the piano. We matched her with a retired piano teacher and they’ve been working together for three years now. They keep renewing because they have a personal bond. Her music, of course, has evolved and the teacher loves the one-on-one; it’s her life.”

Though teens are the primary focus, Partners does take on younger children in extreme cases. Davidson recalled an abused seven year old girl who had been referred by her teachers because she wouldn’t talk. “She was so incredibly introverted that we matched her with an artist who specializes in illustrations for children’s books; she’s quite wonderful and has a whole fantasyland of art that she produces all the time.” Davidson remembered that they mostly drew in silence together and that, at first, the girl’s work was dark and scary, but, as the year progressed her art became lighter and lighter. “I think she was healed by the whole process. I know she was. And I know the artist who worked with her had a profound experience as well, knowing that what you’re doing can so greatly affect the life of a young person.”

Changing lives, giving kids a second chance, forming life-long bonds – true success can be measured in these terms. Then there are the kids who go beyond all expectations.
“One of the things that happened to us is that we became a nominating agency for the Daniels Fund Scholarships, so we nominate from our Teen Advisory Board,” said Davidson. “These Daniels Scholarships are like gold: they pay transportation, books, housing – they are very substantial. Last year we nominated eight kids and four received full-ride scholarships to any university they wanted to attend. This year we nominated twelve kids and eight became semi-finalist.” Though they haven’t heard at the time of this interview how many kids won scholarships, it’s clear that Art Partners has created world where all kids can turn their lives around and ultimately become winners.