The Art and Teaching of John Robrock

Hawthorne High School, 1988 - 1996, Hawthorne, CA

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From 1989 to 1996, John Robrock taught studio art at Hawthorne High School, Hawthorne, California. The Centinela Valley Unified High School District is comprised of just three schools. Despite the usual moaning about budget cuts, Hawthorne High School leadership continued to commit resources to a Fine Arts program for its 3,000 lower income students of diverse ethnic backgrounds, many of them recent immigrants, that included full time teachers in each of the following: Crafts, Ceramics, Choral Music, Dance, Theater, Band and Painting/Drawing. Robrock was the Painting and Drawing Instructor who offered a four semester program of Beginning and Intermediate Drawing and Painting. Those students he accepted into the Advance course had mastered fundamental principles and were given freedom to pursue subject matter and techniques of their own choosing.

Local government agencies, private corporations and non-profit organizations in the Los Angeles County area offer youth a wide array of opportunities to exhibit artwork and win awards. For some of Robrock's students, an art awards banquet was the first time they had eaten a sit-down meal with cloth napkins and waiters or been to Beverly Hills just 10 miles north of their school. The themes of the contests focused student attention on researching particular subjects or applying their creativity to conceptualizing innovative ideas.

For example, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Los Angeles Chapter has sponsored an annual Martin Luther King Art and Essay Contest since 1977. A first and honorable mention prize is given to an artwork at each level from Kindergarten through 12th grade and a first and honorable mention prize to an essay in each grade from 3rd to 12th. Each year the SCLC chooses a different theme to highlight King's life and teachings, e.g. "King's Legacy - Who Will be the caretakers?" Each year, the SCLC is assisted with scholarship prizes and other expenses by co-sponsors such as the Southern California Gas Company, banks, and corporations such as Pepsi-Cola. In 1995, Robrock's students won all of the first place awards for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade categories.

For more than twenty years, the Los Angeles County Mental Health Association sponsors an annual juried contest/exhibit on the theme "Expressing Feelings Through Art" for school age young people, with cash and other awards. Since 1982, the University of Southern California has sponsored a juried high school exhibition featured at their Fischer Gallery. Art Center College of Design in Pasdena created a Saturday High School/Art College Preparatory Program targeted at two lower income high schools in the Los Angeles area - they selected Hawthorne and provided art materials and transportation for ten students to the classes. The Disney Company and Ryman Foundation worked with area art schools such as USC, Otis School of Design and the California Institute of the Arts and the Los Angeles Childrens Museum to create exclusive courses for gifted high school art students called the Ryman Program for Young Artists, in honor of Disney animator Herbert Ryman.

The California Community Foundation celebrates National Philanthropy Day each December with a breakfast awards ceremony to recognize seven individuals and organizations who have contributed substantially to philanthropy in Los Angeles County the prior year. Instead of the usual metal logo and engraved plate on a wooden plaque, the awards are framed drawings done by young artists on the theme of "Giving." The awards drawings are selected in a juried competition with cash awards of $200 each. One Hawthorne High School senior was thrilled to win because she had given up hope of getting the money to buy her class ring. The award recipients appear touched both by the artwork and the opportunity to meet the artist.

Each Member of the U.S. Congress is invited to sponsor a youth art exhibit and competition in their Congressional District. The winning art works are exhibited in the Capitol and a celebratory reception held for any of the artists and their families who can attend. Luckily, reconfiguration of Congressional District boundaries thrust Hawthorne High School into the Hon. Maxine Waters' district. Waters is well known for her energy and creativity in addressing the needs of her consitutents - instead of just mailing the winning art work to Washington, D.C. for the exhibit, she convinced the philanthropic Foundation of the Northrup [Aerospace] Corporation's Employees Association to provide funding for 1993 First Place winner Jose Ibarra of Hawthorne High School to fly to Washington for the reception, accompanied by a chaperone. The grant covered five nights accomodation and meal expenses, giving Jose time to visit world famous art museums and historic sites.

Colleges and universities in the U.S. charge tuition fees, unlike most universities in Europe. The fees at private universities such as Stanford can exceed $25,000+ a year but $2,000 covers tuition for a two-year Associate degree at a California community college. Children in struggling families of recent immigrants often have trouble explaining to their parents why time spent at college, especially in the pursuit of art studies, is well spent even though out of the work force. Scholarship awards from contests such as the SCLC's Martin Luther King Legacy Association often became the make-or-break contributing factor determining whether a lower-income graduate of Hawthorne High School went on to college.

The following is a sample of award-winning student artwork.


Emmanuel Rodriguez
First Place, Junior Category
17th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1994

Pastel
1994 
Nora Hernandez
Second Place, Senior Category
17th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1994

White Chalk on Black Board
1994 
Vi Nguyen
First Place, Senior Category
17th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1994
$2,000 college scholarship and Japan trip

Charcoal and Pastel
1994 
Examples of Student Work of Hawthorne High School Examples of Student Work of Hawthorne High School
Displayed in 2001 at San Benito High School
 
Senior Project Senior Project
Chris Clemens
Tempera Painting
1990 
First Place Winners
(top) Senior: Jose Ibarra
(bottom) Junior: Alondra Villacorta with her family
Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1993

1993 
Color Exercise for first year students
Tempera Painting
1990 
The Boxer The Boxer
Jose Ibarra
Study for First place winner in 35th Congressional District Art Competition
Red Conte
1993 
Armando Arrieta
Honorable Mention, UNOCAL "Visions & Images," $50 prize
Charcoal with White Conte
1991 
The Weightlifter The Weightlifter
Jose Ibarra
Honorable Mention, UNOCAL "Visions & Images," purchased by LACMA Textiles Curator for $100
Charcoal
1993 
Lapiz de Carbon Lapiz de Carbon
Armando Arrieta
Third place, "Expressing Feelings Through Art" Contest: $125 & Otis Summer Scholarship
Charcoal
1991 
Jesus Gomez
First place ribbon, Los Angeles County Fair
Color Pencil
1992 
Danny Ortiz
UNOCAL Contest: Honorable Mention on right, First place on left
Tempera Paint
1991 
Chris Chacon
First Place, 10th Grade
18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995

1995 
Kristi Moore
First Place, 12th Grade
18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995

1995 
Sumita Soni
Second Place, 12th Grade
18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995

1995 
Fernan Fernandez
First Place, 11th Grade
18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995

Fernan was accepted in the Animation Program of the California Institute of the Arts.
1995 

Marquise Johnson
First Place, 9th Grade
18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995

1995 
Katherine Baars
Student with work
1995 
John Robrock with Fernan Fernandez and Kristi Moore
Winners at National Philanthropy Day 1994 L.A.
Beverly Hills Hilton

 
(left to right) Fernan Fernandez, Marquise Johnson, Chris Chacon, John Robrock (teacher), Sumita Soni, and Kristi Moore
Winners, 18th Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference Martin Luther King Art-Essay Contest, Los Angeles, January 1995