"When people are shooting at each other like the killing that's happening out here, Super Vest jumps in between. Once they waste all their bullets, he goes to them and educates them about not using guns, like an AA club. Then he gives them a bulletproof vest for protection," Marquise said. "Super Vest" is one of the superheroes created by Oakland public school students participating in the ArtEsteem program.

The third annual superheroes exhibit of life-size paintings is currently on display at the Linen Life Gallery in Emeryville. Students envision themselves as superheroes with super powers to solve problems in their communities. Fifteen-year-old Denise Montalvo's piece is "Formerly Known As," a portrait of a young girl with what looks like a large blue halo encircling her head.

"She takes drugs in one hand and turns them into water that goes out the other hand. It comes out as clean water, not dirty water, that people can drink," Denise said. "I thought of it because of people on the streets and in the parks using drugs. Little kids want to go to the park to have fun and it's all dirty."

She said her mother never allowed her to go to their neighborhood park. "When I visit my sister in Fremont we can go to the park."

Davontae Smith's "Circle of Life" superhero gives people what the government won't provide, such as health care and jobs for the homeless. Rotha Puth, 12, created "F-Stop."

"He saves people from bad people. If the bad guy is throwing bombs or something, he grabs them and puts them in jail. He can fly and throw icicles from his hand," Rotha said.

Champaghne Zedd, 13, came up with two superheroes: "The Negotiator" sees violence before it happens and talks the perpetrators out of it. "The Ghostly Machine," half ghost and half machine, absorbs all the violence and drugs out of the area into his machine-like gloves.

The paintings range in style; some of the young artists are clearly talented, others are less so. But the images and content are uniformly powerful, expressing innocence besieged by violence and drugs.

Rodney Ewing, an ArtEsteem teacher at Lowell and an artist himself, said one of the biggest challenges was to get the students to think beyond the media images of lethal and violent superheroes.

"We worked for a solid month, talking and writing before we started painting," he said. He takes a similar approach as an artist. "I wanted them to get a clear idea of their personalities inside a nonviolent superhero who could serve their communities."

One day while they were painting, with the canvases spread out on the desks, Ewing said he looked up and the students were helping each other and sharing ideas. "They had formed a community they didn't have before," he said.

ArtEsteem offers classes in art, photography and fashion design in four Oakland public schools, through in-school and after-school programs; it reached 150 students this year. ArtEsteem is the brainchild and passion of Amana Harris, who, as a student at the California College of Arts and Crafts, noticed a disconnect between the school and much of the Oakland community. She saw the potential of using art to help students deal with their negative feelings about themselves and their environment.

"There are a lot of issues of self-hatred that aren't being addressed, and teachers don't have the tools to address them," Harris said. "Their parents often don't know how to support their children. And the schools can't provide any more stability than they find at home. Who is addressing these issues in our children?"

Her theory that art could reach the students is being validated. Teachers notice improved attitudes, and students flock to the classes. However, the in-school classes currently are not funded because of changes in the distribution of Oakland's Fund for City Youth grants. The decision will be reviewed Tuesday by the Oakland City Council's Life Enrichment Committee. (ArtEsteem is a project of The Attitudinal Healing Connection.)

"Super heroes, reflections of me and my world," runs through June 27 at The Linen Life Gallery, 6635 Hollis St., Emeryville. Gallery hours, Tuesday through Friday, 5 to 8 p.m. It will be displayed at MOCHA, 538 Ninth St., Oakland, from Wednesday through July 5, reception June 13, 6 to 8 p.m. Gallery hours Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
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