In the midst of budget cuts for education, and extracurriculars being shoved aside, some people in Oklahoma are going to great lengths to ensure exposure to the arts doesn’t disappear for students.
In the back of an art studio in Oklahoma City, 10-year-old Magdalena Escobedo is painting a picture of a place she'd like to take her Mom one day.
"I’ve got a pond, well it's more like a lake. And then I have a campfire with rocks around it right here and then I have a tent," she said. "And I have a lot of evergreen trees."
She's participating in a free, two week pilot program that brings art classes to young girls in the inner city. Escobedo says she's learned about tinting and shading, watercolors, and adding texture to her art.
"In regular school I have to do what the teacher tells me, but here I can do what I want," she said.
The program is called the Oklahoma City Girls Art School and it's based off a non-profit in Tulsa that's been running for eight years. It's all about expanding low income girls' exposure to art.
Kiona Millirons, the leader of the pilot, says when she heard about the program in Tulsa, she fell in love.
"Instantly!" she said. "And every single morning it was the first thing on my mind. And I just thought, Oklahoma City needs this!"
The fifteen girls in her class are all from Mark Twain Elementary in downtown Oklahoma City.
"So it serves underserved girls, at risk girls…"
Girls that Millirons says could really benefit from some extra attention and creative outlets. She said she thinks doing art is therapeutic for them.
"But I think if you have the right environment, anyone can be successful at art. And I think to have that self confidence, and gain that self accomplishment is huge!"
In the Tulsa program, they try to keep the girls in the art classes from third grade through high school. Right now, Millirons only has enough funding for this pilot program, and fall semester of the coming school year, but she’s trying to conjure up enough money to keep it going and pick up more girls as it moves along.
They’ve got an art show tonight—where the girls will sell some of their art to raise money for the program.
Escobedo says she wants to sell her favorite piece in the show, but can’t pick. She’s done three different things.
"It’s kind of hard because I really like all of them," she said.
Whichever one she picks, she said she hopes someone pays one thousand dollars for it.
The Oklahoma City Girls Art School opening exhibit and fundraiser runs from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Avenue in Oklahoma City.
