EAST LOS ANGELES : Students to Hold Art Show, Auction

Students from the Mujeres y Hombres Nobles alternative high school will display their monoprints at a free reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Self-Help Graphics studio and then auction off their works.

For two months, teacher Jose Antonio Aguirre has taken students to the studio at 3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. to work with materials and equipment there to produce the works.

About 30 students participated, said Assistant Principal Annie Cabrera.

“They were really impressed at what they did,” Cabrera said.

“Even if they thought they made a mistake, if they smeared the paint, the effect would be so beautiful. They’d say, ‘Wow, I did that?’ ”

The reception will include performances by teacher Olivia Chumacero and writer Maria Elena Gaitan.

The students are enrolled in a program designed to bring back into the classroom teen-agers who have dropped out of school, are on probation or are pregnant.

Muralist and mosaic artist Aguirre, 38, has been working with the teen-agers at Mujeres y Hombres Nobles since December. He has taught them silk-screen monoprints and said that the quality of their work is the same as some professional artists, which shows that some of the professionals have gotten lazy.

“It’s good for the students in terms of showing what they can do, but a lot of people are feeling threatened by the students, which makes me happy,” Aguirre said.

The school has given the students the chance they need to think positively about their futures, Aguirre said. Among his students, he has been able to see a change in attitude in the short time he’s been there.

“Most of the things you hear there is, ‘I can’t do that,’ and I’m trying to prove them otherwise,” Aguirre said. “It’s interesting to see some of the kids who are negative. They see the other ones (who will try something) and they start making a bigger effort. It’s a challenge and they want to be a part of it.”

One of his students wants to become a lawyer and another has talked about becoming a model, far different directions from where they were headed when they began.

“It seems to me that a lot of the kids are saving themselves through the program,” he said.

Information: (213) 262-2263.