NEW YORK—Art can make a difference. If you don't believe it, just ask Brooklyn native Melvin Isaac. Isaac is a deeply committed art teacher at Uth Turn, a community-based organization that helps at-risk youth change their lives for the better through the medium of art, and producer of the television program "Artistic Talents" on Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT).
Isaac—who so genially treated me to a full homemade dinner at his Brooklyn home—shared with me how he has helped students through art.
Q: What is your mission with your television show Artistic Talents?
A: It's to teach others about their God-given gift—their talent. The way I do that is to begin with the basic fundamental principles of art. The reason why I do the basic fundamental principles of art is because it gives them an idea of how art begins. And I use that as my focal point. It also gives them a chance to express how they feel and gives them a chance to relieve their tensions, stress, and anger, because I use it as a therapeutic mechanism.
Q: How do you keep troubled youth interested in art?
A: By slowly getting them to understand who they are. As I teach them how to draw, I teach them how to draw themselves; and by them learning their self-portrait they come to like what they do, because they have never seen themselves in a portrait before. And that gives them worth and value and they become someone special. That's what keeps them interested.
Q: How does art provide healing?
A: Art provides healing just by going through the steps of drawing. Once you pick up the pencil and you're just learning any basic principle of art, your mind is focused on your object or yourself. Your mind is then off of negative thoughts. Art takes out that energy of being mad or angry—it relieves stress. So in essence you can take something negative and have it blossom into something very beautiful.
Q: What advice can you give our readers who think they can't become artists?
A: Everyone always says that they cannot draw. I hear that all the time. Once I get to talk to people and show them that they can by easy simple methods, they end up changing their mind. Everyone is born with talent. I am like a sculptor—little by little I strip away the layers that don't allow people to see their talents. Once that person begins to see who they really are through the simple method of drawing, they realize "wow! I can draw."
Q: When did you realize your passion for art?
A: I believe I was born with it. This talent for art was a way for me to understand who I was and a gift I had to offer to others.
Q: Do you have a memorable story about turning a youth around?
A: One of the youth was in a gang and he just stopped. He said, "I don't want to be in a gang, I want to be with you. I want to learn, I want to go back to school."
Q: What do you love about New York?
A: New York is a very diverse city. It has a lot of activities, a lot of museums, a lot of galleries, a lot of people from all over the world. A lot of opportunities in term of education that one might want to acquire to develop their skills or talent. New York never sleeps. It's a wonderful place.