- Associated Press - Friday, July 14, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - Brian Garcia, 15, has loved to draw since he was 5 years old.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports as he got older he got comfortable drawing using ink as his medium. But in the last few weeks he decided to branch out and use other mediums like watercolors, he said.

The time he has spent at the K Space Contemporary Summer Art Camp ignited an interest to try more mediums to express his art.

Now he’s learning how to paint murals and is installing murals in Corpus Christi.

“I don’t paint so it’s really cool to get to learn from the artists and it’s a cool experience,” Brian said. “Everybody here is also so accepting and it’s really great to meet other young artists.

Brian is one of about 15 teens who have participated in the summer camp, which runs through Aug. 4. The camp is geared for teens ages 11 to 16.

The students have been working together on a large scale mural project in downtown Corpus Christi.

Muralists Sandra Gonzalez and Mayra Zamora are leading the camps this year. Gonzalez created the Corpus Christi Caller-Times mural, “Endless Sunset: The Colors of Our City.” Zamora created the Art Center of Corpus Christi mural on Shoreline Boulevard, “Chicano Pop.”

“Every session we want students to see the whole process,” Gonzalez said. “They learn painting techniques, they learn how to blend and we will have visiting artists as well.

“By the end of the week, we see students incorporating their own style and every student gets to help with the mural panels,” she said.

Campers are learning about art history, sketching and problem-solving. They get to critique each other’s work and paint the murals and install them, Cheryl Votzmeyer, the camp’s education director, said.

“(Mural art) brings the students in as part of the community. They get to be part of something that’s beautifying the community,” Votzmeyer said. “They get to discuss a process that they wouldn’t normally discuss at school.

“They get to be hands-on in creating something that will be part of Corpus Christi’s history,” she said.

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Information from: Corpus Christi Caller-Times, https://www.caller.com

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