Workshop: Artist James Donaldson watches as Tiana Corpening paints the hand of her mentor, Stacey Shafer, so she can make a hand print on paper. The art workshop is part of the Rowan County Youth Services' Barnabas Connection at St. John's Lutheran Church. photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post

By Holly Fesperman Lee

Salisbury Post

Twelve Rowan County youths are using art projects to express themselves while developing friendships with caring adults through a pilot program at St. John's Lutheran Church this week.

The Rowan County Youth Services Bureau, an organization that serves at-risk youth who in some cases have been referred by the juvenile court system, partnered with St. John's to offer the Barnabas Connection.

The weeklong program seeks to mentor and empower youth through the arts. Students who are involved in the Youth Services Times Two mentoring program were invited to attend.

Jennifer Ginn, a pastor at St. John's, explained that the name of the program originated with the biblical story of Barnabas, who was an encourager and provided a connection between people.

"We want to be encouragers to these young people," she said. "We wanted to make a space for young people to be able to express themselves artistically and develop friendships with adults."

She explained that Libba Willingham, a St. John's member and local artist, first approached the ministry board with the idea of doing something to work with youth through art.

In a different career, Willingham saw what an impact an art program had on young men in prison, Ginn explained.

"Then we started talking about how we could make that happen for young people in the community," she said.

Willingham found the artists to help with the program but Ginn said St. John's needed to find the right young people.

She explained that the Barnabas Connection was a great opportunity for the Times Two program because these types of mentoring activities are what program director Liz Tennent looks for.

The groups then received a grant from the Peeler Foundation to help with supplies and a matching grant from Lutheran Services of the Carolinas.

"But the beautiful thing about this planning group ... it's a community effort, not just St. John's," Ginn said.

Each student attending was paired with a mentor and four local artists circulated to help children with their projects.

The major project children are working on this week is a book about themselves.

Before the program started, organizers sent home instructions and a small camera with each participant.

The youths were to take pictures of things in their lives that were important to them, such as family, friends and pets. They were also told to bring other items they wanted in their books, including magazine pictures, ticket stubs and ribbons.

The Barnabas Connection got all the pictures developed and gave each participant a box containing things such as charcoal, embellishments and acrylics, in addition to standard markers and paper.

"The object of it was for them to explore different media," said Brenda Zimmerman, activities director at the Lutheran Home in Salisbury.

Zimmerman pointed out that the Barnabas Connection is a pilot program and has been a learning experience for organizers as well.

After all the time and effort Zimmerman and others put into shopping for supplies, "We got in here Monday and nobody had a pencil," she said.

Organizers have also changed the program format from the first day, trying to discover what works best.

Ginn said the program is set to continue in the fall on a weekly basis at Knox Middle School.

The Rowan County Youth Services Bureau already has an after-school program established there and students in that program will get a chance to take part in the Barnabas Connection.

Ginn said she hopes the adult mentors who have volunteered will enjoy the program and come back in the fall.

Tommie Estes, a student at West Rowan High School, said he thought the camp would be boring at first because he wasn't a good artist.

"I draw stick people," he said.

But by the time he started the second page of his book, "I came up with some creative things."

Organizers are encouraging students to continue working on their books after the camp is over, and Tommie said he thought he would.

He started with some of the first memories in his life and worked from there. He has a page of his time in kindergarten, Christmas memories, a page with his two dogs, and pages on things he likes to do, such as go to the beach.

Kayla Santoyo thought the camp would be a fun experience, and said "It turned out to be even more fun." The West Rowan Middle School student said she's most enjoyed making pictures about her friends, family and past times.

Isaiah Corpening, a North Rowan Elementary student, said he has enjoyed making new friends at the camp. And he's enjoyed exploring his creative side.

"I like when we get to create posters and cut out stuff from magazines," he said.

In addition to their individual books, students worked on group projects that helped build teamwork.

On Wednesday — after talking about painting with objects not normally used for making art — students used cut vegetables to paint on canvas. Workers went to the Salisbury Farmers Market to get some of the "paint brushes" for the day, and many farmers donated items.

All mentors and students decorated a huge canvas about the size of a bed sheet. Zimmerman explained that at the end of camp, they would cut up the canvas and each student would get to take home a square to remember the week.

Contact Holly Lee at 704-797-7683 or hlee@salisburypost.com.