THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604040163
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Fifteen Colington teens meet at Edith Deltgen's house every day.
They talk, play cards, watch videos, bang on drums and on many days make a real ``teenage mess'' in the recreation room - fondly dubbed ``The Pit.''
But it's OK, Deltgen says, because the kids have a safe place to be with an adult around.
While Deltgen fits the adult category, raising two teens of her own, she is also a practicing artist and a caring human being to boot.
She gave up the recreation room, which was to be her studio, for the kids. But more importantly, her very presence has turned the kids on to art - so much so that they have created a body of work that will be on display during library week at the Kill Devil Hills branch of the Dare County Library.
The show's title, ``Art in the Rough,'' is classic. The work embodied in the show fits its name on many levels.
The sand-cast sculptures are definitely ``rough.'' The mixed media sculptures of wire and cans and wood and paint reflect the ``rough'' passage teens have through this period in their life.
Several kids did paintings and poems too. Deltgen knows well how rough it can be to be a teen. Her community recently lost a teen to suicide. The art, Deltgen said, helps.
``We got to do something besides sitting around and getting upset,'' she said in a heavy German accent. ``As you can see, it's a good way to express themselves.''
The works created by the kids are powerful. Several of the mixed media sculptures were group efforts, but one child insisted on making one alone. It expresses how he felt when a car accident left him alone and near drowning in a swamp.
The poem that accompanies 16-year-old Bud McPhee's work is called ``Laying with Death.'' Bud's work clearly reveals the poem's message: ``But I just can't forget that cool September Monday when I laid there with death.''
The sculpture is full of symbols and dark reds and purples, orange, gray and pink. You discover flags, and a figure on a cross and a stylistic half-sun either setting or rising. The wooden structure has wire traveling throughout.
``I'm for freedom of expression,'' Deltgen said. ``It's more healing if they get it out, and it doesn't help if you put a pink ribbon on it.''
It's important to note that Deltgen does not hold ``classes.''
``First thing is that I'm doing art all the time, and they like it,'' Deltgen said. She asks the kids for their opinions, and sometimes they make art, too.
Deltgen is not beyond prodding a bit.
``It feels like moving a mountain, and I mean it,'' she said. ``But by the time you've done the dragging with these guys and got it down, it's a lot of fun.''
Some of the teens were reluctant to create, saying they had failed art class. Well, one look at the art coming out of the Deltgen home will have you doubting that.
Sammy Perry, 17, said he liked art, but his presence at the Deltgens' helped broaden his scope. His non-objective work has an outstanding composition and a natural sense of color.
``I call it `Infinity of Confusion,''' Sammy said, `` 'cause if you put it on its side like this, it looks like an infinity sign, like a sign that's continuously flowing.''
Sammy also worked on one of the sculpture pieces, but he prefers his painting. ``There's more self-expression in it,'' he said.
Self-expression is helpful, especially for kids who crave guidance.
``I deal with a lot of kids here who are homeless or out of school, Deltgen said. ``We have teenagers who are not involved in a lot of things. There is nothing back in the harbor for the kids, and they also don't have the money to pay for art classes.''
In the last year and a half, there has been no vandalism back in Colington Harbor. ``And they had kind of a wild crowd here,'' Deltgen said. ``The kids are not really bad, they just had nothing to do.''
Deltgen doesn't consider herself a savior; she's just doing what's necessary.
And for Sammy, he simply says he likes art because ``it's something to do.'' MEMO: Mary Ellen Riddle covers Outer Banks arts for The Carolina Coast. Send
comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by
MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Sammy Perry, 17, of Colington, will be displaying his paintings and
collaborative sculpture in the ``Art in the Rough'' show this month
at the Kill Devil Hills library.
by CNB