Mural at Career Services Illustrates its Many Programs

Roberto Garcia at work on the mural

Mr. Powers and Career Services Director Linda Suarez officially uncovered the mural which incorporates the words: "Open Your World to New Careers at Southern Westchester BOCES." The mural is located on a wall outside the commerical art classroom in Building B.

Administrative staff, teachers, and students came to view the wall painting, which depicts the auto collision technology, carpentry, commercial art, cosmetology, culinary arts, computer repair, computer information technology, electrical, fashion, horticulture, multimedia, TV production, and BOCES Alternative High School academic programs.

"Roberto really stepped up to the plate," said Mr. Powers. "I think he did an excellent job of illustrating and manipulating the materials at his disposal." The commercial art teacher said he hopes the mural project marks the beginning of a "very creative process here at BOCES." Seeing this first mural might encourage future students to produce more murals for other buildings on the campus, he said.

Poster-sized versions of the mural, which measures approximately 8 feet by 8 feet, are being distributed throughout BOCES.

At the beginning of the project, Roberto created icons in pencil that he felt best represented the various technical programs at the Center. He then scanned the images and used Adobe Photoshop software to make 8-inch by 8-inch copies. After meticulously measuring spaces for each icon, Roberto produced a background in black, peppered with orange, yellow and green spray paint. He then proceeded to recreate each icon by using acrylic paints.

The ideas for the icons, he said, "all came out of my head." Additional inspiration came about by spending time in classrooms and sketching students involved in various tasks. Roberto incorporated other symbols, too. A globe in the mural, he explained, represents its title, and his depiction of a student opening a box in one corner of the mural represents the diverse opportunities provided by the Center.

The web site developed by multimedia student Tajon Campbell of Pelham High School, chronicling the development of the project, is now live. View Website

For more information read the Westmore News article below:

Images, Dreams and a Teen Finding His Way

By Masha Rumer
(Appeared in Westmore News of Port Chester, NY on Friday, March 3 Vol. 42 No. 9)

Port Chester High School junior Roberto Garcia works on a mural for the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services in Valhalla where he attends a daily 3-hour-long class in Commercial Art.

Dilapidated hearts, belching monsters, and human figures make up the phantasmagoria of Roberto Garcia's art, combining emotion with meticulous ink details.

"Right now I'm working on something that represents that people actually make their own worst enemies," says Garcia, 16, a junior at Port Chester High School.

Having drawn since he was three, Garcia has adopted an almost comic-book style of graphics as he sketches in pencil, goes over it in ink, and edits the image in PhotoShop.

Art is the way for him to express feelings and to stimulate others to think, he says. He prides himself on being a critical thinker and an observer, possibly because he is a Libra. Garcia likes to hang out at malls -not to browse for the newest iPod covers or pick up an Xbox game, but "just to see how people act in the outside world, when they're not around parents or around where there's basic rules."

The Valhalla-born and Port Chester-raised Garcia has personally felt the pangs of being an outsider. This kid with deep, kind eyes and a defined chin, who likes to wear black hats and beanies, has struggled with obesity in the past. At one point he weighed almost 300 pounds. "People used to not talk to me because they thought they were too cool and I was out of their league," he remembers.

But he's lost more than 90 pounds since the summer by changing his eating habits and noticed a total turnaround in the social scene. "People who ignored me are talking to me now," he notes with a degree of bitterness, because he hasn't changed, only his appearance has.

Art is a major outlet for this teen, who spends about six hours every day creating new visions and admires Leonardo Da Vinci and modern sketch artist Alex Pardee.  

At the beginning of the school year, a Port Chester High School teacher suggested he attend an intensive Board of Cooperative Educational Services art program in Valhalla to advance his skills and learn about various careers in art.

Garcia agreed.

He now takes a three-hour-long daily morning class at Southern Westchester BOCES in Commercial Art, then comes back for his regular high school classes.

"I wanted to do something (for work) where I could actually use my artwork for my advantage," he says. "It taught me how to use my ideas and thoughts (and turn them) into money-making stuff," he says, having been influenced by his BOCES class teacher, Damian Powers.  

Recently he has discovered a whole new medium: the mural and acrylic paints, where his style becomes more colorful and even peppy. "I can actually put everything I thought of on the wall," he explains.

Powers complimented the performance of his student: "Roberto really stepped up to the plate," he said about his most recent work, an 8 by 8-foot mural painted at SWBOCES.

Garcia still finds time to socialize, play drums, and listen to hip hop and alternative music - the likes of Eminem and the local band "As I Lay Dying." But art is his passion.

"People shouldn't just stop after graduating high school," he urges. "There's a world to discover they could actually be good at."