“Sugar Mixers and Shirt Stampers”

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas is a mid-sized building in downtown-Beaumont, Texas. Though it runs mostly on donations, its exhibits change about once a month or so, and they have a large local support to keep them running strong and offering numerous programs for the community.

One is the “Art After School” program, where elementary children go to the museum afterschool for a week and learn a lot about the basics of many different art styles, from clay vessels to shirts printed on a silkscreen. My volunteer work is helping this program keep up with the multitude of different tasks that it requires to keep it running. Though I never know what exactly I’ll be doing, there are several basic tasks that myself and the other volunteers are assigned; I’ll try and give you a basic day at the museum.

When my group of friends and I arrive, we sign in at the front desk and get our nametags. Stepping into the Art Afterschool room, we’re generally greeted by the hushed roar of many children trying to keep quiet as they work, that classroom silence that many of us know quite well. Generally, we’re split into different groups to go and work on various jobs. One day may see me working with two girls as we mix together icing and food coloring, or perhaps a group of five of us in an assembly line to churn out t-shirts for the kids at the end of the week. Maybe I’m even doing what I consider to be the “worst” job, which is mixing up sugar, cream of tartar, and water to create a malleable sugar-substance; this substance is pressed into plastic molds to become sugar skulls, a traditional decoration for the Mexican Day of the Dead festival.

Though I may sound like I’m complaining, these jobs can actually be quite fun, and they really give you a sense of accomplishment. Nothing feels better than stopping for the day and realizing that you’ve made over a hundred skulls in less than two hours.

As we all slowly wind down our tasks, we return to the Art After School room, possibly covered in sugar, icing, paint, or some other backwash from our job for the day. We sign out at the receptionist’s desk and return to our lives, though the trip back to Lamar is generally spent blasting pop and show tunes to the world.

Though I may have made it sound tedious, working here is really fun. Though I’ve returned caked in sugar, or with an icing smiley-face on my back, it’s all been good fun and I’ve really felt as if I’ve helped the art museum’s community.