Artist Profile: Little Picassos
(Designing their own streetwear inspired by Edo. The children drew on sandpaper with crayons, then transferred the drawing with the heat of the iron onto the shirt.)
Little Picassos is a free after-school art enrichment program for underserved, low-income children primarily living in transitional or subsidized housing in Madison, WI. Little Picassos provides a safe, nurturing place to create, learn about art, artists and art history. In the program, every child is celebrated for their own unique talents and gifts. Although Pablo Picasso believed that “every child is an artist,” every child does not have equal access to art education. Little Picassos seeks to redress this imbalance by providing accessible art enrichment.
1) How does the program progressively guide the kids to continue to grow as artists?
Little Picassos provides a safe, nurturing place in which to: create, learn about art, artists, and art history, and in particular artists of color and/or emerging artists. In our program, every child is celebrated for their own unique talents and gifts. At the heart of our program is the notion that each child is beautiful and loved, and worthy. We encourage our students to dream big, and to use artist-grade materials to represent their emotions or thoughts on paper, canvas, wood, clay, mosaic, or fiber.
Although we do cover some of the basic concepts of art: shape, color, line, pattern, etc., I would say that our focus is less on the mechanics than the heart. Our primary focus is fostering self-love in the children, insuring they recognize their own talents and worth. We lay down the building blocks and foundations for creating art by encouraging our kids to express themselves genuinely and without judgement. We encourage our kids to see themselves in the art or artist we are studying then make it their own.
2) Who has most influenced your personal artistic journey thus far? (*answered by Artistic Director Leora Saposnik)
My father used to quote Sondheim to me, and say that life is about, “children and art.” My father was a fantastic teacher, one of those teachers whose teaching craft seemed effortless, infused with kindness and support. He was one of those teachers who really listened and encouraged each of his students to delve deeper, and to keep asking questions. He was also the child of an immigrant who was only able to go to school until the eighth grade, because she needed to work to help support her family. My grandmother worked in a factory her whole life, and she raised my father on her own. If there hadn’t been teachers in his life who saw his value and intelligence, and encouraged him to apply for scholarships, he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of becoming a professor. Those teachers and a tenacious mother, changed the course of my life.
Throughout his life, my father remembered what it was like to be judged by one’s socio-economic status or ethnicity, and he fought to ease the way for others who had been brought down by injustice. Little Picassos is in a sense, a way to memorialize my father, and to pay it forward to other families who have equally talented children but are not valued and respected in our society for being ‘other’ in some way.
Besides my father, I would say that Faith Ringgold and Marc Chagall have been very big artistic influences on my own work: both artists paint people flying and transcending the limits of our being. Both artists tell stories about families, and villages, cities, and flowers; they also disrupt the traditional art world narrative of who can exist within these stories. For this reason, I am also drawn to the work of Kehinde Wiley, Bisa Butler, and Kimmy Cantrell.
3) What most excites you at the moment about the future of Little Picassos?
What most excites me about the future of Little Picassos is the kids. The kids are always our focus. When I see a child look at their own art, framed and hanging on the gallery wall at MYArts (Madison Youth Arts Center), with joy and pride, I know that that is what we are working towards. I don’t think all the young artists in our program will necessarily choose art as their professional path, but I hope that they remember that moment when they were recognized and applauded. No matter what path you choose, you need those moments to propel you on, to know that you belong in any gallery or professional setting. Many children in our program have already faced the brutality of isms that undermine a person’s sense of worth: racism, homelessness, xenophobia, domestic violence, food insecurity, and other barriers; so what excites me is to see them feel seen and heard, and celebrated.
We as a team, also feel excited by the growth of Little Picassos, it is a real privilege to be able to connect with so many families and be supported by grants and donations from our community. This growth has also led to some fabulous collaborations with other artists and performers. This year our kids had the opportunity to paint to live music performed by the LunART collective, a group dedicated to promoting music composed by women. Little Picassos created the backdrop for their concert, and had the opportunity to meet the composer Patrícia Lopes who flew in for this event from Brazil.
In keeping with our love of discovering emerging artists, we also were able to work with Brittany “Bee” Harris, a young graphic artist from Chicago whose artwork highlights the vibrancy and expressiveness of Black women. Because so much of Bee’s work centers on making connections, and shining light on Black women, she taught us how to paint paper lanterns in her bold, colorful style.
(Painting Lanterns with visiting artist, Bee Harris)
4) Share 2 to 3 exhibitions, concerts, books, spoken word events and/or films you're hoping to check out this spring or summer.
This summer I am planning to go to the Chicago Art Institute to have a closer look at Kerry James Marshall’s work. I’ve always wanted to visit his studio, but I’m not sure that’s an option. So I’ll just drink in some of his talent via that space instead. During the pandemic, Edo (another Chicago-based artist) recorded a lesson for our kids on making their own streetwear. I absolutely love the way Edo paints. And I love that he’s a self-taught artist, who despite going through 12 different foster homes during his childhood, sent out the most positive message to our kids to “dream big, and protect their dream.” I’m going to visit him at his studio and shop, The Work Spot. I’m also looking forward to seeing the “Re:mancipation” exhibit at the Chazen Museum right here in Madison.