ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000

Bringing Animation to the Inner-City
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The program lets the children participate directly with the animation process. © CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP) and Inner-City Arts Animation Program for Youth.

Serious Instruction
Saturdays are devoted to students in grades 9-12, and a few who are presently in junior colleges. We use the ubiquitous CalArts vans yet again to pick-up participants at three of the high schools in the downtown area of the city. This semester, 18 new students have signed up for the free classes. Many of the initial exercises are modeled after the grade school curriculum, but are adjusted for these older minds. Here, the flipbook is quickly replaced with traditional, punched animation paper and animation bars. The portable LunchBox easily records more essential motion than either a flipbook or zoetrope strip can provide.

The blank sketchpad that is handed out at the first session encourages the adolescent group to keep an ongoing visual diary of their week, at home, school and en route. Their group project amounts to an "exquisite corpse" exercise, about six seconds of animation per person, that cements a fundamental experience and understanding of some of the basic principles of traditional hand animation. Students who have been in the Saturday workshop for more than a year are encouraged to work on independent, self-initiated projects, supported by a more intimate ratio of teachers to students. In all instances, expectations are high for completed, crafted and thought-out works.

At the end of a full year of the program, a warm graduation event occurs at Inner-City Arts, peopled with family and friends of these young and enthusiastic filmmakers. The focus and responsibility of a premier gives credibility to their work and a sense of pride for the accomplishments they have earned through their efforts.

The beaming faces of the CAP kids. © CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP) and Inner-City Arts Animation Program for Youth.

In the end, it is easy to track all of the winning that I spoke of earlier. Beaming faces are usually the most obvious indicators. They are seen on the faces of the contented filmmakers, proud family and friends, tired yet satisfied young teachers, staff from Inner-City Arts and CAP signing blank jackets on the duplicated video cartridges and me, knowing that this is one of the best things that is going on in this town.

Read about other workshops focused on children in the following Animation World Magazine articles: "Folk Animation: Low Tech Art in the High Tech Age," "Kids Making Animation: Children's Animation Workshops Around the World" and "Yvonne Andersen: Profile of a Pioneer."

Leo F. Hobaica, Jr., Associate Director, Character Animation at CalArts, completed a B.A. in Literature, Philosophy, and Religion; and received an M.F.A. in Fiber/Mixed-Media Sculpture from Fiberworks, Berkeley, California. His extensive professional record includes regional, national and international exhibitions. His teaching experience includes positions at Syracuse University, University of Hawaii, Earlham College, San Francisco State and Grant MacEwan (Canada). He continues producing commissioned works for private and public settings, has earned several public art projects, and is currently planning site installation projects in France. Presently, he teaches Color and Design, and Art Appreciation at CalArts, and is faculty coordinator of two Community Arts Partnership (CAP) animation programs.
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Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.

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