Drawing on the Past

West Linn High School National Art Society members use art to honor the lives of local senior citizens through personalized individual portraits

By Kara Hansen

The West Linn Tidings, Feb 26, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

VERN UYETAKE / West Linn Tidings

Caitlin Virgin, left, discusses her portrait with her subject, Dorothy Wustrack.

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National Art Honor Society members at West Linn High School are used to volunteering their talents to help others.

The young artists complete community service projects throughout the year, with a dozen or more of the 50 members volunteering at a time.

But a project under way since December is different.

“It’s more personal,” said student Caitlin McDonnell, 17.

Students recently put the final touches on portraits they painted of residents at the Tanner Spring Assisted Living Facility. They delivered the artwork Feb. 18, staying to chat with their subjects.

Tanner Spring Activities Director Patrick Cull said student groups visit the facility throughout the year. But this particular project created a stronger connection between the generations, he said, because it was much more interactive.

“This really brought the two groups together,” Cull said.

On a recent day after school, students were bent over sheets of paper in the art room. Each had chosen his or her own medium, whether colored pencil, pastel, acrylic or gouache, a more opaque watercolor paint.

Working from photos, they carefully detailed their subjects on the pages, as well as items representing aspects of their lives. Many in the group had spent up to an hour and a half interviewing Tanner Spring residents.

“We asked about their childhood, the things they like to do, holidays they celebrate, and historic events,” said McDonnell, a senior at West Linn High.

They used what they learned in their portraits’ backgrounds. In McDonnell’s case, she chose to focus on a woman’s first car.

“She had a green convertible that she had to paint herself, and she really seemed to appreciate it,” McDonnell said. “We really got to know them and see what kind of personalities they have. They really seemed to enjoy talking to us, too.”

Erin Chappell, 17, said the interviews allowed her to learn about life in a different era.

“You get to talk to someone who lived in a different time,” she said.

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