It begins with a white sheet of paper. Seven young men splash and mix yellow, red, orange and blue. An artist shouts, "I want design, flavor, energy and movement!" and a masterpiece is created.

Warm, sunny afternoons have become yet another ingredient for the young artists of Life Pieces to Masterpieces. The group of seven boys from the Lincoln Heights public housing project in Northeast Washington take advantage of the weather to sprawl in the parking lot of the Children’s Neighborhood Trust Initiative (CTNI) and breathe their life stories into art.

"Don’t just start painting," instructs director Larry Quick, 27. "You all know what to do first. Choose your color."

As if on cue, they scramble to the rainbow of paint and brushes on the curb. Quick inspects the colors with some artist’s advice.

"Now you see these colors right here. This is a nice combination," said Quick pointing to the yellow, red and blue bottles picked by 7-year-old John Francis and 11-year-old Dante Ackinson. All of the art by Life Pieces to Masterpieces is done together, Quick said.

"The art is based on love, security, expression and trust. The work and the stories reflect all these principles. Our motto is: We live to create."

In addition to the program’s seven young artists, Life Pieces to Masterpieces plans to recruit seven more boys between the ages of 10 and 14.

"I’m a senior apprentice. I just had to learn a lot more techniques from Larry," said Thomas Morton, 12, as he walked over to help Ackinson and Francis with their picture. "You gotta add more water, Dante," advises Thomas. "I don’t want any white shown," adds Quick. John Francis strokes and pushes red paint along the edge of the paper. Francis and Donnell Kie, both 7, are the youngest of the group.

"Everyone’s (paper) should be covered just like that," says Shawn Ackinson, 22, the group’s assistant and Dante’s cousin, pointing to the picture.

Senior apprentices are encouraged to experiment with other media and discover additional forms of self-expression. Apprentices are paid a $20 weekly stipend, Quick said.

"If it wasn’t for my grandmother, none of this would be possible," said Quick, a graduate of the Corcoran School of Art.

Quick said his grandmother’s sewing machine was the "essence" of Life Pieces to Masterpieces. By sewing and painting fabric onto canvas, the artists were able to produce the "sewn acrylic paint on canvas" technique. The result: Vivid pictures reflecting the real life experiences of the boys with titles like "Teardrop," "What You Looking At" and "Tribe of Five." The group’s first piece using this technique, entitled "Emerging From the Promised Land," was exhibited twice at the Corcoran Gallery, Quick said.

The works are now part of a 45-piece collection that began in the summer of 1996.

"I’m getting them into other media. Right now we’re focusing on bigger paintings.

One of our goals is to complete 100 pieces by September 1998," Quick said.

Life Pieces to Masterpieces was developed as the visual arts portion of the Children’s Neighborhood Trust Initiative, a program for young men in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood to discover their innate, creative ability to transform challenges into possibilities. Quick said Life Pieces to Masterpieces was born from a desire to discover his African heritage and to share his story with youth who have experienced disconnection in their lives.

"Their lives mirrored my own. I grew up in D.C.’s public housing projects. Art was my outlet," said Quick, who currently lives at Kenilworth Gardens, a Northeast Washington housing project.

"When I first came to CTNI as a mentor for the arts program, I didn’t even discuss or do art with them. We would play basketball or do whatever they wanted to do. It started when I would be sketching or working on one of my pieces and they would say, "What are you doing?’" Quick said.

The Children’s Trust Neighbor-hood Initiative aims to link spiritual development and healing; education, creative expression, and collective action to improve personal, family and neighborhood life.

"They bring a reality check to the community," said Mary Brown, a staff member at the Children’s Trust Neighborhood Initiative and board member of Life Pieces to Masterpieces.

"Our young African-American males are in a crisis. The adult male role models are either missing or unemployment, drugs, etceteras have struck their lives. Life Pieces to Masterpieces offers these solutions early on," she said.

"They are a call to action to all black males," she said.

When the members first joined the group, more than half had been categorized as special education students in their schools, Brown said.

"All of them have shown improvement in school. I’m proud to say they all passed the Stanford 9,"she said.

"Between raising their own money for supplies and the shows, they stay active. They always receive a good response from the shows and people, which is always a big influence."

So far this year, the boys have done five shows and usually try to do 10 shows a year, Quick said. The shows are different from other gallery shows because the boys tell the stories behind the work using drums, a rap and songs.

"We’re right on time. We’re never late! Our purpose in life is "We live to create," Quick said, demonstrating the song concept that stemmed from inspirational pickup songs he sang in the military.

"The combination is powerful. I would call them the perfect sound byte," Brown said.

Quick said the group recently performed and showed their artwork at the University of Maryland.

"People were crying and writing checks. The boys were really at their best. That was the first time the quiet boys had a chance to step up," Quick said.

"They didn’t get a chance to shine when we started to get more senior apprentices. We had some senior apprentices that said they were taking over and started telling the others what to do. Down the line they just dropped off and left the group. They didn’t have the vision of working together."

Quick said he had to cancel a lot of shows this summer, including a trip to New Orleans, because the boys are attending summer school.

"They didn’t have to go (to summer school), but we decided it would be best to keep up their improvements," he said.

Quick and his assistant, Shawn Ackinson, not only bring out the boys’ creativity but also act as mentors to nurture leadership development. This is done in a three-fold process of engaging, creating and contributing. Under engaging, youth are involved in and exposed to activities like field trips, rap sessions, community projects and games. In the creating phase, they are encouraged to share their stories in the form of poetry, prose and art. They are taught the basic fine arts and the sewn acrylic paint-on-canvas technique. Second year apprentices experiment with other media and other forms of expression. Finally, in the contributing phase, apprentices share their creations by organizing and conducting "community art experiences" via visual art tours, hosted by institutions in various communities. They also are coached in how to contribute to their home, neighborhood and community.

"We’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the boys. We have no disputes and no arguments because we have all the quiet ones now. They’re the ones that are really hungry for the whole thing," Quick said.

As a nonprofit, Life Pieces to Masterpieces has gained support of Hitachi D.C. Community Action Committee, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Capital Community Health Plan. In addition to corporate support, the young artists sell candy to pay for art supplies and have made up to $300 a week.

"We’re expanding," Quick said. "We’re in the process of establishing our own T-shirts, postcards, children’s books and calendars using the art."

Quick hopes to encourage participants who have interest in business. The money made will support the continued operation of the program and will provide scholarships.

The final masterpiece: Creating LPTM Enterprises and Gallery.

It’s 4 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon; the young artists of Life Pieces to Masterpieces have finished three huge paintings. That makes 52 more pieces to go until they reach 100 in September.

"We can do it. We live to create," Quick said.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator