Oakland ~ Other high schoolers flip burgers, sell shoes or file papers for their summer jobs; Lily Friedman helps make tinfoil sculptures.

"Do you need more foil for your moon rocks?" she asks a little girl working diligently nearby. She hands her a few sheets and is off again, helping another child create a foil rocket ship, while a few feet away, several kids launch their already-completed spaceships. Friedman, 17, of Berkeley is a volunteer at MOCHA, the Museum of Children's Art, an art museum in Old Oakland dedicated to promoting art in children's lives.

"I like art and I like kids, so it made sense," she says. Friedman works in the museum's "mini-camp," a half-day camp for kindergarteners.

MOCHA stages open studios, after-school programs, all-day summer camps for older children, even art-themed birthday parties to further its mission of ensuring that youngsters are exposed to art. And the museum itself is dedicated exclusively to displaying the work of people under 16.

MOCHA volunteers can either work in the administrative offices, licking and stuffing envelopes, or they can work hands-on with the kids on their art projects: cutting paper, making goodie-bags for the parties or getting their hands dirty with papier-mâché.

The camp also has opportunities for high school students to volunteer as counselors-in-training.

Creating art teaches children skills that can be applied to all areas of life, and the museum provides a forum that makes art more accessible for them, said Karen Ransom Lehman, MOCHA executive director.

"You can make art in your own kitchen," Lehman says. "It's important for kids to realize that art isn't this elite thing."

In keeping with this week's theme of outer space, Friedman and her fellow volunteers are using such materials as tinfoil and strips of paper to help the children create sculptures of spaceships, moon rocks, astronauts and planets.

"They're amazingly creative, and they have a lot of energy and brilliant ideas," Friedman says.

For more information on volunteer opportunities with MOCHA, call 465-8770, or visit www.mocha.org

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
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