Late artist’s foundation gives Core Academy students at West Prep a place to showcase art in Las Vegas

High school sophomore Job Rojas admits he’s not much of an artist. So when he started an art project for his summer class, he initially had no idea what to do with the blank canvas.

Rojas and 24 other students with Core Academy — an after-school educational program based at West Preparatory Academy, 2050 Sapphire Stone Ave. — developed their artistic talents inside the home of late local artist and educator Joyce Straus. After taking a tour of her private art gallery, the students were inspired by Straus’ Pollution Solution approach — using recycled materials to create eclectic pieces.

Rojas flipped his whole room upside down to find meaningful items that reflected who he was, with which he could decorate his canvas.

The class showcased their finished products at a reception Sept. 28. at the Joyce Straus Foundation for the Arts, 409 Rosemary Lane.

‘Don’t Think’

Each canvas was as different as the student.

Written across Rojas’ canvas was the word “hope,” his favorite word and the reason why he stayed in school. Underneath was an old Spider-Man wallet that his father gave him when he was 3. It represented the lesson his dad taught him — to save money for his future — surrounded by pictures of the Hulk, a Krispy Kreme hat, tickets to Disneyland, a small soccer ball and other typical things you might find in a teenager’s room.

The 16-year-old Rojas said the project made him reflect on his life.

“When you think about it, it seems like a little. But when you look at what you have in your room, it brings back a lot of memories,” Rojas said. “Putting them on a canvas, you really think about those good old days, wishing you were still back there.”

Student Leah Sanz took her piece in a different direction. Like Rojas, she didn’t know where to start. During the class, her art teacher repeatedly told the students, “Don’t think about it; just do it.” The words stuck in Sanz’s mind and became a mantra centered on her canvas, on top of a blue background made of book pages.

“Some students went very personal with their pieces, and I think I was trying to make mine more symbolic, and for everyone if they have their own interpretation on what they think it means,” Sanz said.

Core Academy’s developing art program

Core Academy works with West Prep counselors to identify underprivileged students in need of support — students who are falling through the cracks and may drop out due to low grades and class performance — and follows their academic careers from fifth grade to college.

Core Academy Chief Inspiration Officer Lindsay Harper said the academy goes beyond homework help. It provides students with basic needs such as food, school supplies and health care, along with academic enrichment programs outside the classroom and character-building lessons through volunteer work in the community.

The organization also aims to get the students back on track to graduate and teach them skills necessary to pursue a postsecondary education or a career after high school.

“I knew from the students that I was working with that it was going to take a lot more than mentoring and tutoring to truly break the cycle of poverty,” Harper said. “Not every kid has the same opportunity in this community, and so we are here to inspire and to empower.”

Harper said Core Academy has had sporadic art programs in the past, but through new partnerships, the organization has established a more structured program. Local artist Michael Dodson came on board as its artist-in-residence, spending five weeks with the students and teaching them about art history and art styles and encouraging them to unlock their creative potential.

Dodson said what made the project special for him was that while most of the students did not have much experience in art, it was clear they were talented.

“As an artist, I tend to think too much and just not letting the door be fully open to be creative, and the kids really had no barriers to what they were making,” Dodson said. “They went with the first thing that popped into their head and follow through it. It’s really difficult to just let things flow from you.”

Continuing Straus’ legacy

The Joyce Straus Foundation for the Arts, run by Stratus’ son David and his wife, Heidi, agreed to provide a space and the supplies for the class. David said his mother loved children, and after she died three years ago, the foundation had been looking for a way to support students in her memory.

At the reception, David and Heidi shared that when Straus was a child, she was asked to draw a cow. Having grown up near a butcher shop, she turned in a butcher chart and her teachers told her parents she had no artistic future.

“Our Joyce showed them a thing or two,” Heidi said. “Just like these Core Academy scholars have probably been told a thing or two about what they can or cannot do. And you know what? They’ll decide what their path is, not somebody else.”

Since the reception, the foundation has decided to continue its partnership with Core Academy and keep its doors open for the organization’s art program year round.

Visit coreacademy.com and joycestraus.com.

To reach View intern reporter Rocio Hernandez email rhernandez@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5233. Find her on Twitter: @rociohzz.