A half-dozen elementary and middle school children -- all American Indians -- hummed around a room in a converted East Baltimore Street storefront last night, painting over a few remaining patches of white canvas and making sure the blades of grass looked just right.
Their work was to put the finishing touches on a six-panel mural depicting contemporary Baltimore rowhouses and people strolling in Patterson Park, as well as scenes of traditional North Carolina Indian villages.
Ten-year-old Amber Jones of the Lumbee tribe took a break from mixing the perfect blend of purple to recite a list of dignitaries she wants to see on the mural -- "Maybe the mayor, the president, the governor."
The mural painted in acrylic on canvas panels is the latest project the children have worked on at the American Indian Art Center since it opened Nov. 1.
"I don't think there's any way you can get away from the importance of the arts when you're an American Indian," said Karen Yxomme Lynch Harley, a visual artist coordinating the mural.
Art center officials hope the mural and other projects will be a constructive learning experience for the children.
"If people can have a joyful art experience . . . they'll see that as an alternative to doing things that are self-destructive," said Deborah Bedwell, director of Clayworks. "What we're hoping is to reach kids that are exactly at the right age."
American Indian children in fourth through eighth grades have been spending Monday and Wednesday evenings at the center since its opening constructing a giant ear of corn out of paper, making ceramic masks and animals. This month, they're working on the mural.
Mrs. Harley, a Haliwa-Saponi Indian who lives in Laurel, is the second American Indian artist sponsored by the center for a short residency, giving the children art lessons infused with history.
"We're trying very hard to bring that aspect to light for the kids, and the only way to do it right is to bring people from their backgrounds," said Ms. Bedwell.
Mrs. Harley first asked American Indian students at Highlandtown and Canton middle schools to draw pictures of life in the villages of their ancestors before Europeans arrived. Many started drawing tepees, she said, unaware that their East Coast tribes lived in huts.
"Some of them have been so set aside from their heritage that, unfortunately, they lost a lot of information," Mrs. Harley said.
About 6,000 Native Americans, mostly Lumbee, live in the
Baltimore area, according to the Baltimore American Indian Center.
The community, centered at Broadway and East Baltimore streets, took hold when Lumbees and other Indian groups migrated to the city from North Carolina in search of jobs during World War II.
The children say they have learned about their ancestors while learning about pottery and painting at the center.
"We learned that Indians can make pots and we learned that Indians wore masks and painted their face different colors," said Amber. Adds her sister Teala, 9: "And they made their own clothes, remember."
Robert William Awll III has learned about himself. "It's different because it's my first time painting, and I didn't know I could paint that good," said the 14-year-old Cherokee who lives in East Baltimore. Robert drew a "traditional" panel depicting a man looking at the sun over a field of corn and another man painting while "his girl" holds a bowl of paint for him.
The mural is made up of six separate panels -- three depicting traditional village life, two depicting contemporary life in Baltimore and one "free for all" combining both periods. The village panels include Native Americans with blond hair and blue eyes as well as those with dark and hair. The contemporary panels feature a rainbow of rowhouses, city streets complete with ambulances and people walking in Patterson Park.
Space for the center was donated by the Baltimore American Indian Center. Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Abell Foundation as well as private contributions from area Quakers and individuals keep the center running.
The mural is scheduled to be exhibited at the end of January in the Patterson Park Library, and organizers hope to have it displayed at City Hall and at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
Wherever it's displayed, Mrs. Harley's daughter, 13-year-old April, will have fond memories of working on the mural.
"It's been real fun and I'm happy that it's going on display so that people can see it, but I wish that we could work on it a little more because we did have fun."