CHARLIE LARDNER - The York DispatchBeing honored Wednesday by York Mayor Kim Bracey for their charcoal portraits of African-American icons was just the start of a year-long endeavor by Crispus Attucks Youthbuild Charter School students to dovetail art lessons with the history of black and Hispanic Americans.
An initiative by the York Art Association to spread appreciation of art and tap into new talent brought 13 Youthbuild students - mostly 17- and 18-year-olds - into formal art instruction by selecting an important black American figure and reproducing the person's likeness under the tutelage of Association artist Evelyn Eighmey.
Voters in an online poll contest selected the winners. First place with 23.23 percent of the votes went to Talitha Rideout for her drawing of Duke Ellington, and second place with 19 percent of the tally went to Isiah Jones for his portrait of Mayor Bracey.
"There is a lot of talent here," Bracey said. "I saw me, and I saw Barack Obama, but my favorite was Duke Ellington."
Bracey also complimented D'Ante Hedgepeth for capturing the "sternness" of former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall's sideways gaze.
Jones said he has long enjoyed drawing but that learning the textbook basics was far different than he anticipated.
"It was really complicated, and very different from the freestyle drawing I do," he said. "They had us stand back from the easel as you draw and you have to get the depth of the cheekbones and the facial features. I think I killed it though."
Youthbuild Principal Eugene Washington said the students will now proceed to the second phase of the Association's Black History Art Project, "Symbolically Speaking," where art instructor Ophelia Chambliss will challenge the students to create art inspired by looking to culture and heritage of the past in order to move forward.
The York Art Association and Youthbuild are also planning a project for National Hispanic Heritage Month in September and October, and possibly a wall mural at the Crispus Attucks Center tying together everything the students have learned.
Other Youthbuild students and their art displayed at City Hall are:
**Luz Rodriquez's portrait of Barack Obama **Jessica Morales' portrait of Martin Luther King **Mathew Arango's portrait of Frederick Douglass **Noel Guerrero's portrait of Booker T. Washington **Alex Mantalvo's portrait of Dr. Ben Carson **Davina Roscoe's portrait of Maya Angelou **Francheska Serrano's portrait of W. E. B. DuBois **Ya'Riah Crawford' portrait of Jesse Owens **Brianna Jackson's portrait of Harriet Tubman **Brittany McClain's portrait of Rosa Parks - Reach Charlie Lardner at 505-5439 or clardner@yorkdispatch.com.
