I
Artistic beauty
thrills beholders
Chicago civic program offers
creative freedom to urban youth
MELISSA
MEGLIOLA
Columnist
O n State Street in
Chicago, the fine
art showroom in
Marshall Fields sells
works by such popular
modem artists as
Alvar, Vasserely and
King. The oils,
watercolors and even
limited-edition
lithographs sell for thousands of dollars. A knowledgeable
sales staff specializes in helping shoppers select the perfect
piece to display over a mantel or in the foyer. Eight floors
below, directly across the street, hundreds of artists work in
one of the city’s largest studios, Gallery 37. They paint, sculpt
and weave under tents set up for summer.
Although the work created outside will never hang in the
exclusive upstairs showroom, Gallery 37 is gaining notice as a
haven for some of the most promising talent in the city.
Diligent and focused, but still available to talk with curious
onlookers, the artists are remarkable not only for their youth.
Most are under 18.
Administered by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs,
Gallery 37 is Chicago’s attempt to mix art with cultural and
civic education. Since its creation four years ago, the project
has employed over 2,700 urban high school students. The
artists are employed by the city, which in return keeps their
work for exhibit or sale. Before being hired, the students must
interview for the position, submit a portfolio of their work and
pass an initial test of artistic talent. Soon after, artists from
around the world help them perfect their crafts.
I stumbled onto Gallery 37 this slimmer while shopping on
State Street. ’The walled-in gallery takes up the same city
block that in the winter houses an ice skating rink.
Inside, the wall serves as an easel for students painting
abstract visions of the city, colorful landscapes and varied
cultural views of urban life. Large tents cover the various
studios that make up the Gallery. Under one tent, artists
work to give new lives to well worn furniture and drab park
benches. Another tent houses mosaic tile sculptors, and yet
another belongs to jewelry-makers. The rhythmic sounds from
15 bongo drummers isolate the Gallery from the normal
sounds of the Loop. Off in a corner, a jazz band rehearses.
Everyone is consumed with the work at hand -1 seem to be
the only one who considers the gallery’s location in the heart of
Chicago’s financial
and shopping
districts unusual.
Resident artists
work on their
current projects,
some while
listening to radios,
others while
talking among themselves. A young black woman creates a
shadow box titled “The World According to Woman,” depicting
her African-American heritage. Her heavily cultural style is
marked with maturity and depth beyond that of the
stereotypical teenager.
Meanwhile, another painter works on a vivid skyline scene
commissioned to hang in one of Chicago’s many skyscrapers.
One of the original student artists, he now studies art at a
college in Columbus, Ohio.
Despite feeling overwhelmed and slightly intimidated by
all the activity around me, I venture into the outreach tent
sponsored by Art Resources in Teaching (ART). ART was
founded to provide art education for students attending
under-resourced schools. At a picnic table, two young boys
learn to make ink blocks. A young teacher promises to
help me as soon as she finishes instructing them.
Although I had not intended to participate, I soon sit at the
next table, reaching for my own piece of paper. Satisfied
with his work, one of the boys rushes over to show me his
masterpiece, pointing with pride to his carefully-drawn
lightening bolt. He soon runs off to show it to his mother,
who appears to be about 20 years old.
After finishing my block, I inspect the Chicago Wish Line, a
public sculpture intended “to connect the wishes and dreams
of Chicagoans and visitors to the city.” Visitors to the Gallery
are invited to draw a wish on plain white paper using colorful
markers. Pictures of wishes hang like clothes on a line, placed
there by artists of all ages. One sketch is of a million dollars,
another of a small green pup tent, a third of an easel with the
words “work should be art”.
The City of Chicago boasts that Gallery 37 provides an
artistic outlet inside the Loop and a cultural haven for
Chicagoans. It has won numerous local, national and even
international awards for its innovation and execution. But, for
the artists of the Gallery and the children it exposes to art, the
summer tents are more than the symbol of a successful civic
project. Gallery 37 proves that when you give someone a
chance, they really can succeed.
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief
Mark Evans, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
Jenny Magee, Assistant opinion editor
Editorials appearing in The Battalion re
flect the views of the editorial board. They
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of oth
er Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M
student body, regents, administration, faculty
or staff.
Columns, guest columns, cartoons and
letters express the opinions of the authors.
Contact the opinion editor for informa
tion on submitting guest columns.
' KflaMMSHS
Diligent and focused, the
artists are remarkable
not only for their youth.
Most are under 18.
Take a stand in Haiti
Crisis warrants decision to send in military
Melissa Megliola is a senior industrial engineering major
The Clinton administration’s decision
to send troops to settle tKe political tur
moil in Haiti ends months of inexcus
able waffling on the issue. The danger
ous instability of the Haitian govern
ment and the intractability of dictator
Gen. Raoul Cedras demands military
action on the part of the United States
and other countries of the hemisphere.
This intervention should take on the
goal of establish
ing democracy,
stability and
peace in Haiti.
The country’s
proximity to the
United States
creates a poten
tial threat Amer
ican security,
and the risk of a
hostile govern
ment endanger
ing U.S. interests
justifies concern
and action.
The long-held
U.S. policy that
opposed the mil
itary junta governing Haiti, while re
fusing to admit Haitian refugees into
the United States, could not provide a
means of solving the crisis. After
months of economic embargo, failed
diplomatic negotiations and fluctuat
ing immigration policies for immigra
tion into the United States from Haiti,
the American government has made
no progress toward restoring the de
mocratically elected president Jean-
Bertrand Aristide.
The TThited States is not prepared
to open its borders and resettle the po
litical and economic refugees who are
fleeing Haiti by the thousands. The op
tions have been reduced to a choice be
tween military action and complete in
action. Finally, the president has
made a choice.
Military intervention in Haiti can
not succeed if
the United
States continues
its past hesi-
tance to act. The
effort needs the
full support of
the president,
Congress and
people. Regard
less of controver
sy, this move ap
pears to be the
only means
available to rec
tify the security
and human
rights problems
caused by Ce
dras and his supporters.
Before troops land in Haiti, Washing
ton must resolve to use whatever force
and resources that are necessary to re
move the military junta running the
country and help install a hew, working
government. If the United States is not
prepared to make such a major commit
ment, then it should remove itself from
the negotiations and recognize the cur
rent dictators as Haiti’s rulers.
Health care plan
loses political war
America needs medical reform
despite lack of public interest
JAY
ROBBINS
Mail
Call
Clinton disgraces office;
Republicans' criticisms valid
Contrary to Matt Murphy’s Aug. 31 opinion, I
believe that the president has brought disgrace
to the office and the country and warrants every
thing the College Republicans have to throw at
him. Secondly, to say that the College Republi
cans dishonor those who sacrificed their lives for
this country, when they are criticizing a draft
dodger is absurd. Third, considering that the
Corps has produced more Commissioned Offi
cers, outside of service academies, than any oth
er institution, no institution with that kind of
record can EVER be considered unpatriotic.
Fourth, perhaps Mr. Murphy would like every
one to stop printing shirts and derogatory mate
rial about t.u., after all, we wouldn’t want Texas
A&M to be portrayed as disrespectful towards
another Texas institution, now would we?
* Hwa Ho
Class of ’95
Public drunkenness laws
designed to protect others
In response to Michael Landauer’s opinion
piece in the August 31 edition of the Battal
ion: Yes, we are big kids now. Many college
students are just big, overgrown adolescents.
I don’t believe that alcohol should be
banned. But if a person can’t drink responsi
bly, he shouldn’t drink. Public drunkenness
is not responsible behavior.
Public drunkenness and nuisance laws
were designed to protect innocent bystanders
as well as intoxicated people.
I don’t know about Landauer, but if I’m out
on a date, I don’t want to have to step over a
drunk individual lying in a parking lot. Nor
do I want to worry about getting into a fist
fight with some drunk “party animal” who is
out sowing his wild oats.
I am not a goody-two-shoes or a bible
thumper. I have certainly done my share of
partying, and I was lucky to have survived it!
In retrospect I realize what a waste of time it
was. Life is just too short.
I hope everyone’s parents taught them that
there are boundaries within which each of us
must live.
This is a free country.
People should be allowed to purchase alco
hol and get plastered if they want to, but only
in the privacy of their own home. When you
come out drunk in public, you are infringing
upon my rights as a citizen!
Landauer was very lucky at the U2 con
cert. I’m sure that bouncing down five rows
of seats caused quite a disturbance for the
people around him!
I can assure you that a night in jail would
have been much worse than going to school
the next day with a hangover. It might also
have taught him a valuable lesson which, as
evidenced by his column, he didn’t learn.
Most college students are away from home
for the first time. They tend to go a little
crazy at first. That’s part’ of growing up, but
only a small part.
College is a place to progress, not regress.
It’s time to prepare for the real world. Study,
make friends, have a little fun, and most im
portantly, enjoy and respect the rich tradi
tions that make this university great.
Steven C. Dowell
Class of’96
Adequate health care is be
yond the reach of millions.
It's not enough to talk about
free clinics providing care.
The Battalion encour
ages letters to the editor and
will print as many as space
allows.
tetters must be 300
words or Jess and include
the author's name, class,
and phone number.
We reserve the right to
edit letters for length, style,
and accuracy.
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Fax:
4
E-mail:
8att@tamvm1 .tamu.edu
W hether through ba
sic sanitation or ad
vanced laser
surgery, daily life depends
on some form of health care;
it’s a need shared by every
human. I voted for Bill
Clinton because he
promised to sponsor legisla
tion that would ensure ac
cess to health care for every citizen. Now, political selfish
ness and public ignorance have perverted that health
care plan into a typical mess of red tape that won’t ac
complish a damn thing.
The Congress’ various denizens, more interested in
their reelection than in accomplishing goals or preserving
ideals, have come up with a long list of “alternative”
plans that appeal to opinion polls rather than logic.
Every interest group from anti-abortion rights activists to
labor unions and small businesses to the elderly benefi
ciaries of Medicare has made some kind of statement, de
mand or advertisement on the issue. We’re all so afraid of
potential dangers in a health care plan that we have for
gotten why anyone ever proposed it.
Why would anyone create such a monster?
Because we need it.
The exponential advancements in medicine during the
last 50 years carry a very high price. Almost no one in
this country can afford the expense of a serious accident
or critical illness. Even medical insurance policies have
become so expensive that 40 million men, women and
children don’t have coverage. Does that mean that they
should go die when they get sick? Or bankrupt them
selves and their families?
Who can help the teenage girl and her boyfriend when
their baby is bom 6 weeks premature?
What about providing the expensive vaccinations
that keep dozens of diseases from wreaking the same
horror as AIDS?
Government exists to do for the people what they can’t
do for them
selves. Eons
ago, groups of
people worked
together to hunt
and store food,
to build compli
cated struc
tures, to defend
themselves from nature and other humans and to share
the difficulties of survival. Government is the tool for or
ganizing that cooperation.
Today, our collective lives are far more complex than
just managing grain stores and mending rope bridges.
The U.S. government negotiates everything from inter
national boundaries to freedom of speech to interest
rates. Nor did it swindle or usurp any of its powers -
we gave our government every one of its obligations
and responsibilities.
“Government” is a collective effort to solve group prob
lems that are too vast for individuals to handle. The need
to reform the process of getting medical treatment defi
nitely falls under this heading.
Adequate health care is beyond the reach of millions.
It’s not enough to say free clinics and public hospitals
provide care for those who can’t afford it. Preventive
medicine and early treatment, which catch many
health problems while they’re still minor, is not avail
able in an overcrowded emergency room where a single
mother takes her son after he cries from a stomachache
for the fourth day in a row. The year between trips of
the free mobile mammogram unit is more than enough
time for a woman in a rural town to develop breast can
cer and die. The school nurse might not notice that the
little fat boy displays other symptoms of diabetes.
Yet, at least according to public outcry, more people
are concerned over their access to “assault weapons” than
are worried about the availability of medical treatment.
Until the American public clearly states that it wants
health care reformed, the government will continue its
ineffective meddling. It doesn’t matter which health-care
plan is chosen, or who gets the credit for writing it.
What does matter are the people in this country who
suffer from lack of medical care. And ending that tragedy.
Jay Robbins is a senior
English and political science major
'