Painting a picture of Spanish culture
By Miguel Morales miguel@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers OBRAS DE ARTE- Freshman Brian Espinoza, 14, walks between some of the paintings produced by teacher Julio Agredano's Spanish I class on display at Santa Susana High School last Friday. Students in Agredano's classes were encouraged to learn about Hispanic culture by recreating famous works of art from Spanish-speaking artists like Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

For the second year in a row, Spanish instructor Julio Agredano is taking an artistic approach to teaching students about the variety, impact and essence of Hispanic culture.

Students from Agredano's classes at Santa Susana High School are learning their lessons by re-creating famous works of art by renowned Spanish-speaking artists such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo.

The monthlong assignment also was designed to teach students respect for Spanish culture, Agredano said. They reproduced about 150 paintings, which were put on display last Friday in the cafeteria for the school's entire population to view.

Each paint stroke, line and finished canvas was rendered entirely by the students, Agredano said. After researching the artists, students chose the paintings they admired and then attempted to re-create them the best they could, he added.

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers IMPRESSED- Spanish teacher Julio Agredano admires a reproduction of Salvador Dali's "Persistence of Time" created by one of his students, Jessica Stolywarskaya.

Although they could use whatever medium they wanted, most reproductions were done with oilbased paints or acrylics.

"They were given the assignment and I didn't see the paintings until they were finished," Agredano said. "I was very impressed. They are all my favorites."

For young artists like freshman Alli Hinber, the assignment was particularly fulfilling.

"Nobody has ever seen my (art), so it's nice that now they can," Hinber said.

With no sports programs at Santa Susana, many of the teachers offer students a variety of other outlets to express themselves and what they've learned in class, Agredano said.

So it's not unusual to see students use art and technology in their assignments, said sophomore Jennifer Mairose.

"Most classes allow you to do a painting or a video in an essay's place," Mairose said. "It lets you be more creative and think about more than just words, which I'm not the greatest with."

Agredano's Spanish class has received much positive feedback on their re-creations from both faculty and students.

"It's fun to incorporate art into a Spanish class," said freshman Danielle Gutterman.