By Mary Lackie

Children with tops, toy trumpets and bouncing balls brought their friends to the Center Arts building to enroll in an art program that began last week with a puppet show. As the word spread, registration doubled.

Sisters Barbara and Caelan, O.F.S., directors of the center at 1243 Simpson Road, N.W., distributed 1,000 flyers in the neighborhood. They had planned a program for 400 children, but only 70 registered. “It wasn’t enough to say ‘we are here’, it took the personal experience of the children who went back and told their friends,” Sister Caelan said.

It took six month’s work to transform an empty warehouse into the art center. Sister Barbara said, “This place had no lights, no windows, no plumbing and no shelves. It was a gray, empty building. This center is an expression of what the people in the neighborhood have done. This place would never have been possible without the help of the good people here.”

Negro plumbers, painters, carpenters and masons donated their time. Volunteers from St. Paul of the Cross and the Cathedral of Christ the King help build shelves and furniture. A volunteer from Immaculate Heart of Mary parish donated paint and stayed to paint the walls.

Tables and benches in the center were painted by neighborhood teen-agers who also decorated the large barrels filled with the donated toys, art supplies, plaster and yarn.

Two children wandered in the door and asked to register for classes. Sister Barbara stood at the typewriter waiting to enroll another child, she said, “Everyone has a dynamism within him. This seems to explain the whole business about violence in America. If this spirit can’t be expressed creatively, it will be expressed destructively. It is important for children to learn to construct rather than destroy.”

A few days before classes began, the nuns noticed police cars at a nearby apartment building. They were told that a young boy was fighting with another child. Sister Barbara recognized his name. “He was registered at Center Art for classes. He is one of our most interested students, and we have found that he has talent. He hangs around here all the time, and we spend as much of our time as we can working with him.”

About 20 volunteers assist with the classes in art, painting, clay modeling, dancing, creative writing, and pottery. Volunteers offer a story telling monogram.

The children love to paint. Sister Caelan said, “They are very uninhibited and their work is free. The hard part is that you can’t expect them to draw animals, flowers, buildings, if they lack the experience. How can they draw pictures of something they have never seen? That is why the field trip program is so important.”

People have been generous in donating tickets to the ballet, rodeo and circus. Sister Barbara said, “Transportation volunteers take the children on field trips and men from Collier Heights and St. Paul of the Cross take them on tours. The children are so much in need of personal attention. We hope to get more volunteers.”

Miss Kathy Murphy, an instructor at Emory University, has prepared a course for high school students on Negro and Southern authors. Miss Rai Ragsdale, a creative writing teacher, was greeted by her students with, “When do we start work on our magazine?”

A film study class is taught by an instructor at the Atlanta School of Art. Classes in ballet and modern jazz dancing are held on Wednesdays by volunteers from the Ruth Mitchell dance company. A member of the Atlanta public library staff has offered to work in the reading and poetry program.

“People ask us, ‘Why aren’t you giving the children clothes: Why aren’t you feeding them?’ We are not social workers. We aren’t here to convert anybody, we are just trying to make the kids happy,” Sister Barbara commented as she looked around the bright room where a class was busy with paints and scissors decorating life-size paper dolls.

The nuns believe they can serve the community best by doing what they were trained to do. Both have master’s degrees in art education. Sister Barbara received her degree from Winona State College, Winona, Minn., and studied at Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles. Sister Caelan received her degree from Villa Pius XII, Florence, Italy.

Discussing their philosophy of art, Sister Barbara explained, “In our pragmatic society, the spiritual development of the child has been neglected. This applies to many American children. The arts are the best media for developing the spiritual side, and there is close correlation between the decision making process in art classes and decisions which will contribute to changing the child’s future life.”

A group of fifth and sixth graders stood in the sunshine around a long green table outside the center. As they smoothed wet sand and dug it before pouring plaster for sand casting designs, the nun said, “Take your time and think about your work.” The children shared suggestions, pressing the sand and staring at the work with serious eyes.