Perspective: Teaching arts for a new kind of education

Deep inside the Charter High School for Architecture and Design hangs a painting, a matrix of crisp white lines on a royal blue background, graced by a lonely yellow stripe. But keeping this work hidden within the teachers' prep room begets the feeling that the faculty at CHAD -- one of only two high schools in the nation dedicated to design -- is keeping the best artwork to themselves. After all, many feel that this obscure gem bests even the original Sol Le Witt masterpiece that graces the school's lobby. Its creators are not the product of years of fine arts training. Rather, they are mostly minority students -- many just touching a paintbrush for the first time -- who have sought refuge from Philadelphia's troubled public school system at this fledgling academy bordering Washington Square. The students at CHAD are not alone in their artistic pursuits. On South Broad Street, like-minded students have made their home at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, the local institution that has for decades produced legions of dancers, instrumentalists and vocalists, including Boyz II Men. Together, these schools allow some of the city's students to break out of the traditional educational mold.

In the midst of a crowded drawing studio -- where each of the four grades meets for 100 minutes each day -- sophomore Ciara Clements is busily designing a habitat loosely based on the movie The Birds. "I've never had any experience like this -- this is the first time that I've ever been in a studio that really focuses on art," said Clements, who transferred to CHAD at the beginning of this school year. "I always thought that it was so hard to draw, and then Mr. Gilliam [the drawing teacher] told us that's something that can be taught -- just like math. And it really can be, because it's easy." That's welcome news for the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which co-founded the school in an attempt to expand the city's educational choices -- while increasing minority participation within architecture's often homogeneous ranks. "The profession has sort of a big bubble of middle-aged white guys in it -- roughly speaking -- and the trends for membership... are a flat line right now," said Philadelphia AIA President-elect Peter Brown, who is also studying for his Ph.D. in city planning at Penn. CHAD began as a "legacy project" for the 2000 AIA convention. This five-year old concept is intended to provide the host community -- Philadelphia in this case -- with a tangible benefit. Despite the affiliation of its founders, the faculty insists that the CHAD is not just an architectural enclave. Other design professions -- such as graphic and industrial design -- are taught as well. "We want to introduce them to concepts and ideas which will make them appreciate design and understand it a bit better -- we're not teaching them only to be architects," drawing teacher Alex Gilliam said.

Both CHAD and CAPA differ from a traditional public school education by using a problem solving methodology to link art with academics. In this model, a design project at CHAD involving bird habitats leads to a biology lesson about different types of birds which leads to English papers on the subject. "It was exciting because I felt that for the most part the kids came away from this project knowing more about biomes and finches and the food chain... than had they just memorized it in a rote fashion from science class," Gilliam said. For his senior project, College senior and 2000 CAPA graduate Adam Alalouf combined his interests by mathematically analyzing scores of Beethoven's music and then presented his results by dressing up as Beethoven -- white wig and all. "It's a creative arts school, so you're going to find a lot of people who have a completely different approach to things," Alalouf said. "So I dressed up and I spoke with a German accent -- which I do badly." Students at both institutions have managed to extend their influence beyond the school walls. At a recent after-school mentoring program, about 20 CHAD students worked hand-in-hand with top architects, engineers and construction managers to plan a new 30-story office building in Philadelphia -- for the year 2020. With the professionals guiding the way, the students competed in teams to develop building programs for the site, which they then had to sell to their "client," Penn Professor Emeritus of Creative Management William Zucker. "I'm just impressed with the fact that they're putting it all together," Zucker said after listening to the students' pitches. "They don't have any experience, but they're doing it." CAPA's students have been using the city as its stage -- literally -- with the choir landing engagements on FOX's "Good Day Philadelphia" as well as with Barry Manilow at the Mann Music Center. And a children's theater program brings drama students to nearly all of Philadelphia's elementary schools. Even the teachers have benefited from the expressive culture of these schools, which many find to be a remarkable change from previous teaching positions. "A lot of people crave stability and structure and someone to tell them what to do," said CHAD English teacher Brian Nelson. "Here, you have structure, but it's more like a four-lane highway instead of a little one-lane road."

For those who want to live the artist's life at these schools, getting a foot in the door requires two very different approaches. As its name implies, CHAD is a charter school, an independent public school that has been granted a "charter" by the state to operate using public funds. Although this allows charter schools to be free of many public school rules, they are required to abide by one -- all students must be accepted, space permitting. On the other hand, magnet schools such as CAPA operate as special programs within the school district, which allows them to be selective. Students have to meet rigorous academic standards, and -- in CAPA's case -- audition for a seat. Still, sometimes exceptions are made. "If there's somebody basically with all Cs and a D who plays the bassoon -- I might look at them," said CAPA principal Ellen Savitz. Normally, with 3600 applicants vying for 170 seats, no less than a B will suffice. But even though CHAD is still getting off the ground -- its first class will only graduate this May -- it is still looking for a special type of student to fill its 375-member student body. "If you don't like to draw, you're really in the wrong place," said Barbara Allen, a CHAD official with a son in the senior class. "It could be purgatory to be stuck in these design studios endlessly." This selectivity results in an atmosphere to be found at few other schools. When the school district mandated metal detectors at CAPA last year -- where violence is unheard of -- the students banded together and voiced their grievances before the school board, dispelling notions of student apathy. "The teachers know you -- they see you in the hallway and speak to you," CAPA senior Alicia Carter said of her school's environment. "It's not just like, 'There's another student -- I hope she doesn't steal my pocketbook.'" The corridors in CHAD are lined with artwork from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, which most of its students -- 80 percent of whom come from impoverished backgrounds -- are unlikely to have seen before. School officials hope that such displays will inspire the students. "It's just going to get in their pores -- everywhere you look is some little jewel of good design," Allen said. "[In] how many public high schools... would you leave something so vulnerable exposed -- how hard would it be to tear it off the wall?" Although the students at these schools are unique with their passion for the arts, they themselves are very different -- economically, socially and racially. Both schools draw from across the entire city, rather than from a single neighborhood, but some feel that their art unites them. "I watch them shed whatever they're bringing in -- whether it's bravado strutting or being scared to death -- because they don't have to define themselves as rich or poor and black or white anymore -- they can define themselves as their art," Savitz said. "There's a magic that goes on that I just sort of back up and let happen."

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