RACINE - Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the last six weeks, high school students from throughout the city have been getting together after school to explore their creativity and, in the process, learn something about themselves and the world around them.

Some have been drawing and painting, others have been writing poetry and others still learned to shoot video. All of them have been focusing on a theme of "Self in the City" and all of them have been getting paid an hourly wage for their efforts.

They are the employees of the Main Gallery after-school program, a new version of the city's tried-and-true summer job program by the same name. Started in 1995, the original Main Gallery is designed to provide meaningful employment in the arts for Racine youth, ages 14-19. Its participants work in a variety of media to create pieces of art that are auctioned off at the Chair-i-ties event at the end of each summer.

The new, after-school version of Main Gallery is similar in its basic concept, but different in terms of things such as how much time participants spend in it, said Jessika Mikol, program supervisor for Main Gallery. Because students' time is more limited during the school year, the fall pilot program consisted of two-hour sessions, three days a week, rather than the 20-hour week summer schedule, she explained.

It has also focused more on job skills, with students learning everything from basic concepts such as the importance of showing up on time and how to work well with others, to more complex duties such as how to curate and market an art show. This is the first job for a lot of these kids, Mikol said, and therefore a great chance for them to learn basic employment skills. They also learned about different kinds of artistic jobs, through trips to the Career Discovery Center and discussions with local working artists.

The fall program has also stretched Main Gallery's media boundaries a bit by including creative writing and video production, in addition to visual arts. And all three of the groups - painting/poetry/video - have worked collaboratively to create the projects which they will show at a special exhibition at the Racine Arts Council, which opens at this weekend's Downtown Gallery Night.

Working together

The collaborative nature of the program is something that Jacqueline Gerardo, a sophomore at Horlick High School, said she appreciates. As one of several students in the creative writing segment of the program, led by local poet/artist Nicholas Michael Ravnikar, Gerardo did some of the writing for the video that was produced by Main Gallery participants (under the direction of filmmaker Mark Fornal) and she is excited to be able to share the end result with others.

"It was really fun seeing our work come to life," she said.

In addition to script writing, Gerardo and others in her group worked on a variety of different poetry forms including sestinas (very structured seven-stanza poems) and ekphrasis (poetry written in response to visual art). They also learned how to write a news release and did journal writing.

Most were new experiences for Sage Sanchez, a freshman at Racine Lutheran High School, who had never done creative writing before. Learning the different writing forms was a challenge at first, Sanchez said, but a fun one. Such challenges, Sanchez said, are an important part of helping students find their own potential.

For Rashae Wilson, a senior at Park High School, the Main Gallery after-school program was also an opportunity to hone his artistic skills - something very important to Wilson, who plans to pursue a career in some form of art. Under the direction of local artist Jane Cascio, Wilson said he and others in the drawing/painting group learned how to draw three-point perspective well, as well as improving their shading and color-mixing abilities. The group's Gallery Night exhibit will be Wilson's first time having his art work shown outside of school and he is excited for the opportunity.

Being there

As is the case with Main Gallery's summer program, students in the after-school version must go through an application and interview process, and be interested in the arts, in order to participate. They do not, however, have to be accomplished artists. The main qualifications for acceptance into Main Gallery are initiative and curiosity, Mikol said.

"All that I require is that they show up and be excited about what we are doing," she said. "If they are willing to give input and share ideas, that's what we are looking for."

Those participants who can't meet basic job requirements, such as consistent attendance, won't complete the program. Out of 27 students who signed up for the first six-week session, 16 remain, Mikol said.

Some of the students from the first fall session will continue in the next, which will begin today and continue through Dec. 19. It will meet from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While the first session focused on participants exploring their own identity and place through various art forms, the second session will be more product-oriented, Mikol explained. Students will be working with representatives from Design Partners, Inc. on creating a new marketing package for the Main Gallery program, she said. The results of their efforts will be shown as part of the Racine Public Library's "BONK" performance series at the Blueberries Cafe on Sixth Street at the end of the session.

If You Go

WHAT: "Self in the City" a painting/poetry/video exhibit created by Main Gallery participants.

WHEN: Opening reception is 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday during Downtown's Gallery Night, with live poetry readings and video screenings. The exhibit will continue through November.

WHERE: Racine Arts Council, 316 Sixth St.

COST: Free.

INFO: Go to http://www.racineartscouncil.org/about.php