AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM "We believe that kids who do well in art, do well in other academic areas. It enhances your life, opens up creativity and helps with problem solving," said Lauren Okano, who worked in the traveling art gallery for the Contemporary Art Museum last year. Above, a look inside the Artmobile.

Museum on wheels

The Contemporary Art Museum's
Artmobile brings the colorful world
of art to Hawaii kids

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By Nancy Arcayna
narcayna@starbulletin.com

Art opens up a whole new world to children, allowing them to stretch their imaginations and think creatively. Older children may also use art as an outlet to convey emotions that they are either unwilling to share or unable to express.

Unfortunately, in public schools, art programs draw the least respect from bottom-line administrators and are among of the first programs to get cut during times of budget crises.

To remedy the prospect of children left artless, the Contemporary Museum launched its Artmobile project two years ago to bring a colorful world to students.

Louise Lanzilotti, former curator of education at the museum, was responsible for the "House It" exhibit riding in the gallery on wheels.

"I wanted children to realize that artists live among them and that art is a living thing, not just something produced centuries ago," she said.

The gallery on wheels "gets real art to thousands of children a year who would not see it in any other way."

Lanzilotti estimates the exhibit will change every five years or so, the length of time it takes to visit all Oahu and neighbor island public schools.

"House It" arose as a way of showing that artists have many ways of expressing common ideas.

"The theme 'House It' is a pun on 'howzit,' one of our most enduring local phrases," said Lanzilotti.

Lauren Okano worked in the Artmobile all of last year.

"The whole experience of coming on the bus is interesting to the kids," she said. "The students sit down and discuss why art is important. Sometimes we have up to 30 sixth-graders on the bus."

A 20-minute dialogue session precedes the tour. The lecture and tour depends upon the age of the children and includes a lesson on museum manners. The mobile museum visits 20 to 25 public schools a year and serves children in kindergarten through sixth grade. The bus stays at each school for approximately a week and a half.

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM It takes the Artmobile about five years to visit all of Hawaii's public schools.

One of the main goals of the artwork, featuring some aspect of houses or containers, is to make the children feel that their own individual expression is valued, Okano said. They ask questions like, "Why are there no doors on the house?" which helps them to learn about various artists' intentions.

Shapes, colors and textures are covered in discussions.

"We want them to realize that even when they are working on English or math assignments, that art is involved," she said.

Students are asked to count the different types of houses and objects inside each house.

"We believe that kids who do well in art do well in other academic areas. It enhances your life, opens up creativity and helps with problem solving," said Okano.

Allyn Bromley's "Happy Birthday" house has a simple meaning. It was originally a birthday cake made for her daughter. Each of the cake's six slices is a representation of hugs and kisses and the love a mother feels toward her daughter on her birthday.

Other houses have deeper meanings, said Okano. Timothy Ojile's "Objects for Transition" was created following his father's death. The box, similar to Egyptian tombs, holds objects designed to ease passage from one world to another. The objects are painted white, the color of death in certain cultures. The treasured items include a flashlight, a ball, a miniature toy with a pulley, a mirror, a flute and a unicorn.

Works by Sara Atabaki, Gaye Chun, Rick Mills, Marcia Morse, Fred Foster and Roy Venters also are featured.

"The kids seem to understand the spiritual side. They love looking in the memory box. They also learn that art can bring honor to someone who has passed away," Okano said. "The children always share their opinions as they look around. They all have something to say."

Hope and dreams of achievement are always on the agenda.

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM "House It" is the current exhibit on tour. Above is Timothy Ojile's "Objects of Transition."

"Many of these kids do not know that creating their own art for exhibition is an option," added Okano. "I think that children benefit not only from seeing the work of living artists, but also from seeing the richness and variety of expression that can come from a single idea."

The teacher's role is essential to the Artmobile's educational aims, offering pre- and post-visit lessons for the children. Coinciding with an Artmobile visit, children may make their own container of dreams, approaching the project from a personal perspective.

"It was really neat. They had packets with follow-up lessons for the teachers to bring back to the classroom," said Marcia Omura, a fifth-grade art teacher at Waiau Elementary School.

Omura's students used clay to create the "container of their dreams."

Funding for the arts in schools is almost nonexistent, said Omura. Classroom teachers prepare their own art assignments or depend on outside resources. She said children can never see enough beautiful things — "those things that make you stop and think."

In spite of the extra work, Neal Tomita, the state Department of Education's contact for the Artmobile, said the project is a welcome addition to the curriculum.

"Teachers always tell us to come back more often," he said.

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