THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408110139
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HEIDI GLICK, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Every year Terre Ittner tells the story of workshop, the weeklong leadership seminar that a select group of local middle and high school students attend at Virginia Wesleyan College.
She speaks of leadership, of courage, of creativity and of self-worth.
But she never says a word.
Ittner, a local freelance artist, tells the story of workshop through her paintings. Each year for the the past 21 years the artist has summed up the theme of workshop in a 4-by-5-foot acrylic painting.
With catchy and meaningful phrases like ``To sail beyond the sunset,'' ``Hidden in us to attain,'' ``A light that beckons,'' ``Desire and strive'' and this year's theme, ``Step out unafraid,'' Ittner paints a picture describing what that phrase symbolizes.
On the first day of workshop, advisors introduce the students to the program, performing a skit and, for the finale, raising a curtain and unveiling the painting.
Diane Anderson, director of this year's workshop and assistant in the office of student activities, said presenting the painting serves as a kick-off to workshop, while connecting the theme to it.
At the unveiling of the painting, the students are surrounded by 21 of Ittner's other paintings, which hang in the auditorium during workshop. When the weeklong session ends, the paintings are stored until the next year.
``It's the neatest thing,'' Anderson said, ``People new to this don't understand these (the paintings) are ours. They think they belong to the school.''
Ittner, herself a former attendee of workshop in 1967, said she has workshop in her veins and she can't get it out. That' why she has stayed with the project since its start, doing everything from being the co-coordinator it to teaching the advisors workshop.
``We all went up there and had an island experience,'' Ittner recalled of her first workshop experience. That was in 1967 when it was a school-wide event for Cox students.
``It was the kind of thing where when you go home and your mom and dad wonder why you can't talk for a couple of days,'' she explained. ``You're filled with that experience.''
For Ittner, workshop isn't just the story of students getting together and being taught leadership. It's gaining the knowledge that every individual has gifts to share. That every person makes a difference in the world.
Some of the paintings mirror events happening in the world.
For instance in 1986, Ittner painted the space shuttle, which earlier in the year had exploded, for the theme ``To those who dare.''
In this year's theme, ``Step out unafraid,'' Ittner drew a person walking on a tightrope. She wants the painting to encourage students ``to get out there, be brave, do something.''
But that doesn't require getting a high paying job or being a big shot.
Her 1977 painting depicts a child sitting on a swing. The theme? ``It must have made some difference.''
``You make a difference whether you're bringing up a child in the right way or planting a garden,'' she said. ``It's the small things that make a difference.''
For Ittner, these paintings not only detail workshop but they also detail her personal journey in life. ``For me these are diary pieces,'' she said. Each one reminds her of where she was living, what was happening in her life and artistic influences.
Pointing to one painting, she said, ``That's when I fell in love with (artist) Georgia O'Keefe.''
And these paintings detail her growth as an artist. In the earlier days, she rushed through them the night before workshop, painting them at the college because she didn't have a studio. Today, getting a large, clean white canvass is a luxury and she takes her time on them.
She spent 13 hours painting this year's theme board.
``I just love the splash of color,'' Ittner said, gazing at her paintings on the last day of workshop. ``It's such a personal journey of getting better at your craft and seeing it there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by HEIDI GLICK
For 21 years, Terre Ittner has used her acrylic works to inspire
leadership in workshops at Virginia Wesleyan College.
by CNB