Before we explore the creative expression of our students at the upcoming 26th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition on April 13th, let’s delve into the minds of one of our ArtEsteem Visual Arts teaching artists: Cristina Delgado.
Cristina (she/they) has brightened classrooms with us since 2021. She was born in Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico, raised in Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA), and is currently based in Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). She is a first-generation graduate from UC Berkeley with a BA in film and media studies and a minor in education. As an undergraduate, Cristina participated in CREATE (Creative Residencies for Emerging Artists Teaching Empowerment) where she taught classes in visual arts, creative writing, and art therapy to local schools and community organizations. Post graduation she worked at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and Kala Art Institute before landing with The Center for ArtEsteem.
This year for her students at Encompass Academy, Cristina developed a project integrating graffiti arts and one of ArtEsteem’s core curriculums, the Self As Super Hero (SASH), developed by Executive Director Amana Harris.
With artist Aeos One (DeVante Brooks) sharing his skillset as a style writer, sculptor, sign painter, and muralist, Cristina's classes are expanding their world views and artistic education with each lesson in the project series.
The following interview allows us a view into Cristina’s unique perspective as teacher and artist.
What is your intention behind this project? How did it all come together?
I was inspired to create this lesson plan because when I was talking to students at the beginning of the school year in August/September many expressed an interest in graffiti, and I wanted to incorporate something they were interested in into their SASH portraits. I know graffiti is a subculture and often criminalized because it's associated with gang culture. However, graffiti is another way we can visually communicate, self express, and represent ourselves and our communities politically, humorously, bluntly, or any way we feel like it.
I met DeVante a couple years ago at First Fridays. He was vending with AeroSoul. I saw his work and was so amazed by his talent that I bought a jean jacket he painted. I followed him on social media and I've been seeing his work online with calligraphy, graffiti, and repurposing signs with positive messages and words. I DM'ed him and asked him if he would be down to do a graffiti skill share with elementary students in East Oakland and he replied with “I’m open to helping the youth of Oakland.” He suits this project because he was born and raised in Oakland, has been doing graffiti for about 15 years, and his philosophy in creating art is uplifting his community.
I merged SASH with graffiti art concepts by doing a mixed media collage portrait painting. Students learned about can control by spray painting their canvas, which will be the background to their SASH portrait. They were also encouraged to come up with one word for their superhero; it can be their name, an adjective, or a word that represents them. DeVante took the time to write each word using graffiti techniques, and the students will paint their word with paint markers using graffiti techniques and tricks.
From your perspective, how have the students engaged with and reacted to the project?
Students have been brainstorming and developing their SASH portraits, and have now begun sketching and painting with watercolors. When we returned from winter break I told them we were going to have a guest artist come and teach us about graffiti.
All the students were excited to use spray paint as a medium. I think their first impression of graffiti was that it was a bad thing to do because there is a lot of stigma associated with it and it is often described as vandalism. But after hearing Mr. Aeos One (DeVante) share his story and work with the students I think their perspective changed. They now understand how graffiti is an artistic expression and can lead to a career if that is something they're interested in pursuing. Additionally, we will soon begin painting the graffiti words that Mr. Aeos One did for them, and they will get the opportunity to paint and decorate their graffiti word in their own stylistic way. I hope this process can highlight key elements to graffiti and demonstrate to them that graffiti is more than spray painting.
What do you hope the students will take away from this project? What do you want audiences to feel at the Exhibition?
I hope the students enjoyed this project and got to authentically express themselves in their SASH portraits. I hope the audience can have a greater appreciation for the community and culture that graffiti stems from.