By Heather Matthews
Staff Writer

Pedro the cat walks across the screen, slowly picking up speed and leaping off of the frame. In fi fteen seconds the black-and-white hand-drawn cartoon is over, but for Dylan Desrockes, the experience of making “Pedro The Cat” is just starting.

Desrockes, 11, of Manchester, created “Pedro The Cat” during the fall cartooning class at the Currier Art Center and premiered his cartoon on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Center’s end-of-the-semester student exhibition.

Peter Walsh, the father of Brendan Walsh (pictured), 4, of Manchester, said being involved in the class, “ABCs of Art,” was a great experience for Brendan. “It’s wonderful,” he said. “He got to interact with other students and was exposed to diff erent mediums.” Transparencies: The Currier Art Center’s class, the “Drawing Fundamentals” was just one of the many classes to just display work at the Center’s end-of-the-semester, Fall 2005 Student art exhibit. The class for children 11 years-old and up displayed works done in pastels and chalk. (Photo by Heather Matthews)

Desrockes had always wanted to learn how to create a cartoon, but could never fi gure out the basics from reading the books he borrowed from the library. Now, he creates his own cartoons and comics at home, based on the lives of two camels – Buddy and John – and even has a name in mind for his own production company, “Two Camels Comics”

“I learn better from people,” he said. “Every drawing is a quarter of a second. I needed 47 drawings (for “Pedro the Cat”). Every card is like an inch more. I had to keep tracing it, and tracing it and tracing it. It was hard.”

While Desrockes learned about the diffi culty of cartooning, he also learned a few lessons on patience and persistence, one of the center’s intents.

The center helps students like Desrockes improve their abilities and strengthen their appreciation for art through their classes for adults and children, the Open Studio for local high school students and their school Art Outreach program, but more importantly, the center is creating a community for artists and art lovers.

“Artists need to be part of a community,” said art center director Bruce McColl. “(The Art Center) is a home for these students, a place for them to express themselves freely with teachers that facilitate them and applaude their efforts.”

Art Outreach involves students from a very young age, through school years, and into adulthood.

The Open Studio, a competitive-entry afterschool program for high school students that puts the participants in direct contact with the Currier Museum’s artist-in-residence, is one of the Currier’s Programs that helps foster community growth among the artists. Each of the 16 high school students work collaboratively to create one single cohesive exhibit by the end of the semester.

Linn Krikorian, a Currier instructor and the coordinator of the Open Studio, said that creating these projects helps students learn about the business of making art, and making it as an artist. Each student is also able to learn from their peers, drawing on other artist’s experiences.

For Jeff Carrette, 15, a sophomore at Memorial High School, being a part of the community has allowed him to become more confi dent in himself and his work.

“I’m usually very shy,” he said. “I don’t like stepping out in front of the crowd. This has helped me to do that.”

The Open Studio program, as well as the other center programs, look beyond the art center’s walls for involvement.

Most of the programs off ered by the Center, including the Open Studio semester-long projects and the outreach program’s classes, are inspired by the collections held in the Currier Museum, in particular the visiting exhibitions, said McColl, “creating a fabric” between the museum and the community.

“It really is a unique thing to off er,” said Marlene McGuire, art center assistant director and outreach program coordinator. “We’re bringing the collections to these students. This is a treat for them. They can visit the museum and can make all the connections.”

McColl agreed.

“(The program) is engaging the teens and creating a collaboration with the community, not just because those students are part of that community, but also because (the art) is a public expression in that community,” said McColl. “It all goes back to the origins of the museum and the art center. The original intent of the museum was to serve the community and bring about a valuable aesthetic and cultural experience.