Mikey Sanchez, a sophomore engineering major, began his journey at LMU in fifth grade – at the Summer Arts Workshop run by Marital Family Therapy / Art Therapy. The program is a one-week therapeutic art camp that supports youth from historically under-resourced communities. It culminates in an on-campus exhibition of student-created installation pieces.
“The program is where I found my passion for art,” says Sanchez. Every year the program introduces students to a different art medium, centered around a theme that often incorporates the culture and life experiences of participants. “One of my favorite themes would have to be from when I was in sixth grade; we each constructed chairs and painted them to resemble our cultural background and things that matter to us,” remembers Sanchez. “I made a baby blue chair with some symbols representing Guatemala because I’m Guatemalan – that chair I still have till this day” he says.
For participants, the workshop isn’t just a place to create art, it is also a place to create family. “Everything about the program made me feel at home, and like I could be myself, from my very first summer,” says Sanchez. “Jessica [Bianchi], who was head coordinator then, has always been like a second mother, and Amber [Cromwell], has been like a big sister to me” he continues. Participants spend all day with mentors, creating, hanging out at the LMU pool and around campus.
It was this familial environment that inspired Sanchez to apply to LMU after years of participating in the workshop. “I just fell in love with the campus and LMU became my dream school, so I’m completely grateful for the opportunity to be here,” he reflects. Now, as a proud Lion, Sanchez has had the opportunity to become a senior workshop mentor, and he even got to choose the theme for this year’s exhibit: bridges.
Each bridge is built and decorated to represent the different parts of a person’s life and culture that have led to where they are now. Sanchez’s bridge showcases the different schools he has attended throughout his life, which have led him to becoming a student at LMU. “I’m really glad to be able to lead this project because I’ve had multiple instances where my art skills have helped me work towards a career in civil engineering, like when I sketch out blueprints or have to be creative with ideas in engineering classes, so it’s nice to flip things and apply my engineering skills to art” Sanchez states. “Helping the kids construct their bridges has just been so fun,” he adds.
The students’ bridges will be on display Friday, August 8th, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in University Hall, 1857.