“The title of my work is ‘Who Am I Really?,’” said San Diego Job Corps student Darlene Curtis.  “It’s a picture of a person who shows many faces and emotions, while still presenting a smiling face to others.”  Curtis, a 2011 graduate of Mar Vista High School, is currently enrolled in Job Corps’ Computer Technology Career Technical Training program.  “I was involved in Mar Vista’s art program,” she continued, “and saw the Art Show as a great opportunity to continue my interest in painting.”

Curtis and fifteen other Job Corps students contributed art work to the show which was coordinated by the center’s Arts and Crafts Specialist Jose Hugo Sanchez in January 2013.  “These students are not only showing talent but beyond; a synthesis of vision, born from their own experience and time,” he stated.  They brainstorm and work very hard in building a bridge through their own heritage, as well as their contemporary life experience.”

Family, friends, fellow students, and staff who visited the Art Show at the center’s Recreation Department had an opportunity to speak with the artist and Sanchez.  “We must look closely to these great images because what we see is a hybridization of a melting of ideas and souls, clashing and meeting in the concept of diversity,” Sanchez continued.  “This diversity gathers them in time and space.  Their realm is Job Corps.”

While some of the artists decided to keep their work, others donated their creations to the center to be displayed throughout the center.  “This is our second Art Show and is a dream come true for me,” Sanchez added.  “The whole idea of why this student art show is presented is a great metaphor for us as we work to revive our human values through a creative process.”