The Art and Teaching of John Robrock

Hawthorne High School, 1988 - 1996, Hawthorne, CA

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 Displayed in 2001 at San Benito High School
	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 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 Jose Ibarra Honorable Mention, UNOCAL "Visions & Images," purchased by LACMA Textiles Curator for $100 Charcoal 1993
	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