This summer, future photographers and photojournalists spent five weeks at West Chester University at the PAW—Photography and Writing—program. Started in 2021 by WCU professors Yanira Rodriguez and Kuhio Walters. The second year again brought together students in conjunction with West Chester Area School District’s Jump Start program, which focuses on historically underserved students. The program ended with a fantastic exhibition where students not only got to see what they had created, but display their artwork to friends, family, and visitors.

PAW introduces a wide range of techniques and skills, from digital photography to using traditional cameras and developing the film in darkrooms to writing pieces to accompany their photographs. “Literacy happens in so many ways beyond specific skill acquisition and it also depends on exposure,” says Professor Rodriguez. “So while we teach photo literacy concepts like framing and point of view and do guided writing prompts, we also value the learning that happens through playful discovery.”

The program focuses on creativity above all. Students enjoyed both the content and the freedom of the program. “I liked the program because we learn to take pictures with cameras and we get to draw too,” one PAW artist said. Another didn’t want the camp to end: “I love the program, I wish I was always here.”

Rodriguez and Walters carefully considered how to create a program that expanded not just skillsets, but worldviews. “We also think of what knowledge can be relevant to children but are not always accessible to them through their school curriculum,” Rodriguez explains. “And so we make deliberate choices about what art, artists, and concepts we use as examples when we develop our lessons.”

The students work hard over the five weeks of the program, and it all comes together with an exhibit in the John Baker Gallery at WCU. “When they walk into the gallery at the end of the program has to be the most exciting moment for all of us,” Walters says. “Up to that point, the students have seen their photographs and know we're printing them out to share with the world, but they don't realize how big the images will look at those large sizes.”

The professors curate the gallery, surprising the students with their images and accompanying writing in a full art show format. “They produce really funny, touching, magical poems, photographs, and art, and when they walk into the Baker Gallery for the first time and see it all, they start pointing, gasping, laughing, running from image to image . . . it's just an amazing, satisfying feeling of accomplishment for them and us,” says Walters.

It is an exhilarating experience for all, including the professors and university students that have guided the PAW artists. “For me there are these moments of self-recognition and self-valuation that we get to witness throughout as the kids create art and images and see their own creations take form,” Rodriguez says. “It brings me deep joy to witness how the kids see and value their own and each other’s work.”

There is more than just pride in their artwork for the young artists. “Kids get to see themselves and their work valued in spaces they do not usually have access to,” Rodriguez explains, “which is why we wanted to have the kids work exhibited in a gallery at the University, as if to say, you belong here and we want you to join us when you are older.” Sharing that vision is important for not just the students. “My hope is everyone who comes to the exhibit can bask in the brilliance of these young creators, and value the knowledges, messages, and visions they are trying to share with us about the world we live in and the world we need to co-create.”

Walters has a similar vision for the program. “I hope the students take away a feeling of pride and accomplishment in their art, and a belief that their voices and their experiences matter.” In the world we live in today, this is so important for all ages. “I hope the parents feel validated and inspired to keep talking to their children about all the things emphasized by the exhibit—art, the value of literacy and self-expression, the importance of drawing strength and sustenance from one's home community. And I hope the community at large and the university itself sees these students as a resource to be treasured—our future college students, our future leaders.”

“This year we subtly worked with the theme of Another World is Possible,” Rodriguez says. This led to one of the motifs of the program, which inspired students throughout. As one future artist eloquently sums up the program, “Pintar las Mariposas”—Paint the Butterflies.

The PAW Program runs in the summer at West Chester University in conjunction with Jump Start of the West Chester Area School District. The exhibit was held at the John H. Baker Gallery in the E. O. Bull Center for the Arts, located at 2 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester, PA. For more information, check WCUPA.edu/arts-humanities/artdesign and on Instagram @artsatwcu.