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Published: April 27, 2007 03:47 pm
GLOWING RESULTS: Students are the gems in NACC jewelry making class
By Michele Deluca/delucam@gnnewspaper.com
Greater Niagara Newspapers
Katy Reese teaches city teenagers how to use torches and knives. And when they are done learning, they have created jewelry so exquisite that she has compiled a traveling exhibit of their work.
Reese teaches at the after-school program at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center in the old Niagara Falls High School. Her students, who learn the same concepts that she teaches in her adult classes, have stunned her with their ability to handle the challenging tools and design concepts.
“Typically children who may have problems in other classes don’t have those kinds of problems in my class because they are so engaged. Physically, they are in motion all the time, and that might help as well,” she said.
The best part, she said, is her adult classes and her youth classes sometimes overlap, and it is gratifying to watch her students interact with the adults, sharing design tips and ideas.
Do You Want to Make Jewels?
• Who: Katy Reese, teacher and jewelry maker
• What: teaches jewelry making to students and adults
• When: Students classes are afterschool. Adult classes are in the evenings.
• Where: Niagara Arts and Cultural Center 1201 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls.
• Contact: Niagara Arts and Cultural Center, 282-7530 or visit the Web site at www.TheNACC.org.
The maturity and grace her students have shown might be due, in part, from the safety tone she sets from the moment they walk in the door.
“There’s no room for horsing around,” she said.
“I always tell them, there’s a hospital right across the street,” she said, referring to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. “I always say I haven’t gone there yet and I don’t plan on going there, either.”
If they aren’t safe, they can’t stay, she said, but she hasn’t had to send anyone out yet. Those that stay learn valuable skills for employment.
“They are learning what the professionals do in the real world. They are employable,” she said.
Zachary Strzelczyk, 15, a student as Gaskill Middle School in Niagara Falls, made a cross for his aunt, but a pendant for his friend gave him a little bit of technical trouble. “I messed it up but it ended up being cool,” he said, adding that he enjoys the afterschool class because “I didn’t feel like sitting around the house doing nothing all day.”
Christoper Brinson, 14, also a student at Gaskill, added that “I really appreciate it because it keeps kids off the streets and teaches them something they can use and they can succeed.”
Reese is so struck by the creative work of her students that she has brought some into local retail shops, including Bada Bean Coffee and Cafe on Main Street in Niagara Falls, and Amy K’s Mystic Botique in Lewiston.
She has also created a mobile gallery of their work, which she has taken into the community, most recently at the Boomday Celebration at the LaSalle Yacht Club. She also displayed the students work at a art event in Brooklyn.
“The jewelry absolutely stands out at these shows, because nobody else is doing it,” she said. “From people’s comments, I think we need a section (in the traveling show) that has jewelry for sale.”
Contact Michele DeLucaat 693-1000, ext. 157.
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