Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club members take photos of Baile Oakes' wood sculpture entitled 'Gestation III,' 1991, at Palisades Park during Santa Monica Bay Human Relations Council's Kids With Cameras Summer Photo Workshop on Wednesday, July 27, 2011.

Alex Bologna looks at art from members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica at One West Bank on Friday, February 4, 2011. The art is part of a competition of the  Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) National Fine Arts Exhibit program.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica is one of more than 4,000 Clubs across the country uniting in a search to identify talented young artists.  

BGCA’s National Fine Arts Exhibit program is a comprehensive initiative promoting young people’s creativity and encouraging artistic skills and cultural enrichment. This year-round program inspires artistic expression among Club members ages 6 to 18 through classes, special events and fine art exhibits. The program offers guidance in various media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, mixed media and sculpture.  

As a participant in the National Fine Arts Exhibit program, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica has submitted members’ artwork in four age divisions and 10 categories, including watercolor, pastel, oil, acrylic and collage. Selected artwork will be screened this week to potentially compete at the regional level, and a limited number could be sent to BGCA’s Atlanta headquarters for judging at the national level. Thirty-seven national winners will be named and their artwork displayed at special events throughout the year. Winning artists will also receive an engraved plaque and letter of congratulations from BGCA President Roxanne Spillett. Regional finalists will receive a certificate of participation.  

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica have participated in the National Fine Arts Exhibit for three consecutive years and this year more than 1,100 Clubs participated, giving members the opportunity to see their artwork professionally displayed before their family, peers and community. 

SMBGC CEO Aaron Young, SMBGC Board President Bud Pernoll, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce President Lauren Rosen, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America Vice President Frank Sanchez looked on as SMBGC Club kids cut the ribbon on the new basketball court made possible by a gift from the LeBron James Family Foundation.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 17, 2010 – The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica (SMBGC) yesterday unveiled the Club’s new basketball court/outdoor play area that was made possible by a generous gift from the LeBron James Family Foundation. This is the first project completed using funds raised by the Foundation surrounding July’s ESPN TV special during which James announced that he would join the NBA’s Miami Heat. A gift totaling $3 million in cash and in-kind donations from HP and Nike was raised during the broadcast to support youth Programs, and build and refurbish vital facilities at local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country.

“The LeBron James Family Foundation is proud to be partnering with the Boys and Girls Club on this great initiative,” said LeBron James.  Our goal is to empower young people and to encourage kids to stay fit and be active. The Boys and Girls Club and I want to ensure children have opportunities that lay the foundation for them to realize their dreams,” James added.

It was fitting that two Club kids had the honor of conducting the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, as SMBGC CEO Aaron Young, SMBGC Board President Bud Pernoll, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce President Lauren Rosen, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America Vice President Frank Sanchez looked on (and helped with the huge scissors!). Club supporter and Fox Sports radio host and anchor Deb Carson served as the event’s emcee and rallied the 100 Club kids to a group “Thank You!” to LeBron James. Following the ceremony, the kids eagerly hit the new courts for some drills.

“This day is very nostalgic for me,” said Aaron Young during the afternoon event. “This is what this area looked like when I came to the Club as a kid, except the hoops are much nicer now than then!”
The new court/outdoor play area includes seven courts with adjustable hoops. The court replaces a wooden skate park that took up most of the Club’s outdoor area for 12 years and was removed earlier this year. The new court area will allow SMBGC to provide more sports, fitness and recreation programs including basketball, tennis, baseball, soccer and roller hockey, and serve hundreds more young people each year.

“At the Santa Monica Boys & Girls Clubs we’re all about having an impact on our members and ultimately on the community,” said Aaron Young.” But to have that level of impact, we count on the investment of individuals and organizations like the LeBron James Family Foundation. So we thank you for doing this.”

About The Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica: Founded in 1944, Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica currently serves approximately 7,000 youth through memberships and community outreach. They come from all over Los Angeles County, largely from Santa Monica, Venice, West Los Angeles and Inglewood. Members pay a $20 annual fee for access to all Club amenities and programs that span across education, leadership, recreation and more.  The Club operates with the objective of serving children from all backgrounds, regardless of economic circumstances – ensuring that youth ages 7 to 18 have a safe and nurturing environment to develop socially, succeed in school, stay physically active and prepare for positive futures.  For more information, visit us at www.begreatsantamonica.org, or follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/smbgcfan) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/SMBGC).

UCLA Horticulture student Clara Yoshimare gives a tour of the The Learning Garden to students from Santa Monica Bay Human Relations Council's Kids With Cameras Summer Photo Workshop at Venice High School's on Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

SANDY FEET AND NEW PERSPECTIVES AFTER “LENS AND LEARN” EVENT

WITH PICTAGE AT THE SANTA MONICA BOYS & GIRLS CLUB

Local youth take a trip to the historic Santa Monica Pier with a group of volunteer professional photographers, kids and adults return with new eye on creative expression

(SANTA MONICA, July 15, 2010) -  At 10:00 a.m. temperatures were already starting to climb. Inside the Santa Monica Boys & Girls Club it wasn’t just the hot weather, it was anticipation for a day at the beach….with cameras. Last Thursday Pictage, located in Torrance, CA, brought 14 professional photographers who are clients of the company and 20 digital SLR cameras for photography lessons and a hands on learning fieldtrip. Waiting for them at the Club were 79 eager seven to twelve year olds, ready to explore the beach through the viewfinder of a camera.

Before venturing out the children attended a classroom session covering photography basics like composition, light, and perspective. Cameras were passed around so kids could get familiar with handling the equipment. The crew then walked down to the Santa Monica Pier and broke out into small groups, each with two photographers, Club staff and a Club volunteer. Teams were given assignments, a scavenger hunt of sorts, and had to photograph subjects such as “red”, “happy”, reflections, and motion. 

Cameras began clicking and smiles abound as children in brightly colored Club t-shirts spread out over the pier and surrounding beach. Pictage had a video team on hand to capture the fun, the Bui brothers Lan and Vu, a Southern California duo that shoot conceptual and promotional photography mostly for web personalities and professionals. The brothers adopted digital SLR video shooting -- using single lens digital cameras to shoot video -- as soon as it came out and were part of the team that shot the first U.S. television commercial on a digital SLR camera. For the Lens and Learn event they equipped three Club youth with digital Flip Cameras and a new iPhone with video capabilities to shoot their own view of the day. Pictage will produce a video using the footage and photography from the day along with a photo book for each of the children.

Photographer Justine Ungaro was with a group of younger aged Club Kids for the adventure. “I'm not sure how much photography they actually learned,” laughed Ungaro. “I know they had a great time and I think that's what is most important. I had a few little ones hanging on me at the end and as hard as it was for them to say goodbye to me, I think it was more difficult for me to say goodbye to them.” Ungaro specializes in wedding and portrait photography with a little bit of music industry commercial work thrown into the mix. In February she traveled to Port Au Prince, Haiti with a non-profit group to document the work of a team of volunteer medical professionals. While she took just 1600 frames, less than a typical wedding day assignment, she says she brought back so much more.

Pictage is a full service agency that provides marketing, customer service and fulfillment services to professional photographers like Ungaro and the Bui brothers freeing them to focus on the creative aspects of their businesses. It is also a community-minded company, seeking out unique ways to foster collaboration between their clients and the communities in which the photographers work.  This is the second time the agency has partnered with a local Boys & Girls Club to provide a Lens and Learn event. The first, in March of this year at the Las Vegas Boys & Girls Club, was such a success they sought out more. When word went out to their Los Angeles based clients, photographers responded with enthusiasm.

“It’s really an honor for Pictage to partner with Boys and Girls Clubs for these amazing Lens and Learn events.  Watching the photographers we serve, who volunteer their time for the day, interacting with these great kids in such a fun and meaningful way is moving. Watching the kids reactions, seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter is all the encouragement we need to want to do these again and again,” shared Jim Collins, CEO of Pictage.

The Santa Monica Lens and Learn event was a collaborative effort for the Club as well. NY&C Pizza on Wilshire Boulevard provided piping hot pizza for the 120 or so participants and employees at Google’s local office, a local independent photographer, and members of the SMBGC Volunteer Council took time out from busy schedules to pitch in.

“When people sign up to volunteer at the Club or support the Club with a generous contribution they do so because they want to give back to the community and impact a child’s life. Once they have been into the Club and spent time with the members they realize it is a two way street,” remarked Aaron Young, CEO of the Santa Monica Boys & Girls Club. “We deeply appreciate opportunities like the Lens n Learn event where we can collaborate with our business partners, volunteers, the kids, the community and create that mutual benefit.”

During a wrap up session back at the Club kids and photographers shared how the day had altered their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. Some of the children were interested in becoming photographers themselves or working more with their creativity. They shared that working with the pros and the camera equipment had given them confidence in their ability to express themselves and make decisions. So after a day of creativity, sunscreen, and cameras it was kids and grown ups alike that returned with new perceptions.