The agony over a youth's life cut short -- coupled with the beautiful artwork his memory inspired -- forms the central theme in an upcoming Arts Connection/City Faces exhibit organized by Bob Hansman, assistant professor of architecture.
The emotionally charged drawings and poetry in the exhibit were created by Hansman and by other friends of Jermaine Roberts, a City Faces participant who died of sickle-cell anemia last May. The exhibit runs from Friday, Jan. 24, through March 29 at the Center of Contemporary Arts (COCA), 524 Trinity Ave. An opening reception is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 24. COCA sponsors the City Faces program, which is held at the School of Architecture each summer and is designed to teach drawing to at-risk youths.
Organizing the exhibit was uplifting and heartbreaking for Hansman, who shares the grief over the loss of 17-year-old Jermaine with other City Faces participants.
Jermaine, who was in Hansman's City Faces class three years ago and continued on in subsequent classes, was instrumental in the summer program's success. Jermaine served as a self-appointed bridge between the often-unruly teens and Hansman. Ultimately, under Hansman's direction and Jermaine's prodding, the youths not only learned to draw but also forged deep and continuing friendships with their teacher and with each other.
"Everybody respected Jermaine," Hansman said. "He was able to see the kids' side and my side and validate each side to the other."
The focal point of this year's City Faces exhibit has evolved into a shrine honoring Jermaine's memory. Eight pastel portraits of Jermaine created by his friends surround Hansman's woodblock print, charcoal and pastel work featuring a variation on Jermaine's self-portrait. The works tell a story of grief, love and healing.
"The big message of the show is that it reverses all the myths you hear about kids not caring," Hansman said. "People will drop to their knees when they see how much these kids loved Jermaine."
Distraught over Jermaine's death, Hansman was unable to create any art of his own for seven months. When he finally brought himself last December to create the work depicting Jermaine, he said he was unsure how his emotions would play out on canvas.
"I had no idea how I was going to deal with his image -- how I was going to face it -- but I knew I had to," Hansman recalled.
The deep loss of Jermaine is underlined in the exhibit by a tombstone, designed by Hansman, that also features a variation on the youth's self-portrait. Those visiting the exhibit can leave messages for Jermaine by tying them to paintbrushes beside the gravestone. Hansman said that when he and Jermaine's friends discussed having the grave, they considered whether it would be misunderstood and criticized as morbid or depressing.
"But we decided we couldn't do the show without it. They (Jermaine's friends) took this horrible thing of having a friend in the grave and transformed that into love and beauty. That's what motivates this whole work," Hansman said. "The kids all reached beyond anything they had ever done before artistically and poured their hearts and souls into it."
Other tributes to Jermaine include votive candles, single red flowers and a poem titled "For the lost mind" by 17-year-old Reginald Love. "I'll be shedding tears, for years inside ... Why didn't I get the chance to say good-bye?" the poem asks.
For Hansman, the City Faces program has evolved from him teaching summer classes to being a year-round mentor. At times, he even serves as a guardian angel for the youths, many of whom are surrounded by poverty, crime and drug abuse. He has paid their rent, bought them food and taught one to drive. He frequently visits another who now is in jail. Not wanting to be left out of the exhibit, this youth contributed from his cell drawings of Jermaine.
"When I started with this program, I never thought I'd be burying kids, visiting them in jail, paying their rent, feeding them," Hansman said. "But you can't just go in and teach art and leave. They can't draw if they don't have anything to eat, don't have any heat. We have to take care of the other parts first."
The exhibit also showcases self-portraits by last summer's City Faces participants and features poetry by another youth who died suddenly. The poetry of Kyunia Taylor, a pregnant 15-year-old who was shot to death while riding in a St. Louis school bus last year, describes the violence she faced daily. One of her poems asks: "Why are there gangs and guns all around, And violence with a laughing sound?" City Faces participant Michael Caffey drew a portrait of Kyunia that will be displayed in the exhibit. He plans to sell the portrait and donate the proceeds to Kyunia's mother.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the Bi-State Development Agency's Arts-In-Transit program will display in bus shelters throughout the St. Louis area posters with self-portraits by last summer's class members. The posters also will include such messages from the City Faces participants as "Stand up for what's right even if you stand alone." Note cards of the portraits are being sold to cover the cost of the posters.
In recognition of Hansman's dedication to the City Faces program, he will receive a 1997 Missouri Arts Award next month from the Missouri Arts Council. Last year, the program was cited in a White House report titled "Coming Up Taller." Although honored by these recognitions, Hansman said the true reward has been the youths themselves.
"I've met the most wonderful kids. They've taught me so much," he said. "These kids have given me a whole new life. They have created me."
For exhibit information, call (314) 725-6555.
-- Ann Nicholson
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