We did a q&a with Pedro to learn more about how he became such an awesome teacher:

Can you tell me how old these kids are?

7th grade / 12 yrs old

What school do they go to?

Ring Mountain Day School

What class did they do this for?

Studio Art class

How did you come up with the idea to stencil on skateboards for one of their projects?

I’m always exploring how to integrate art and its many different forms into my students’ daily lives – whether it’s the design on their t-shirt, a graphic on a skateboard, or an interesting photo they took on their cellphone – getting them to think creatively will benefit them now and down the road. This is the first time I did this project and the idea came from watching some of my students skate to class. A friend recommended the book, Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art by Sean Cliver and then put me in touch with DLX skate shop in SF where I bought the used decks. After the first “Stencil” class with Roman, I thought of bringing in one of the boards and the Skate Art Project came to fruition. An old skate deck is a great “canvas” to work on. You can leave some of the original scratched paint, wood, stickers, and artwork showing as a sort of glimpse into the history of the board and let the viewer visualize where it has traveled or you can choose to paint it over and create a completely new and unique statement. It also serves as reusable / functional art – add some trucks/wheels and you’ve got basic transportation (if there are no cracks in the board that is ; ) .

How did you get into teaching?

As a practicing artist I always knew I wanted to teach and share art with others someday. I was hired two years ago for the New Teacher Institute program in SF and this is my rookie season as a head teacher.

Man, Pedro, you are one cool teacher.  We wish we were as lucky as your students and had a teacher like you growing up.  We need more teachers like you engaging students positively and making true connections with the youth. THANK YOU!

Keep the creative juices flowin, kids!  You guys rock!!!

Check out more of the student’s artwork on our flickr.

We got an email from a gentleman named Shailesh from eBay’s User Experience design team.  He wanted to have his team, which consists of 25 people, learn more about graffiti.  Instead of taking his team to a, yawn, white elephant brunch, he wanted them to get down with the funk.  So, 1:AM responded by creating a customized graffiti workshop for them, that included history of graffiti, a mural walk tour, painting on the wall, and stenciling t-shirts.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Listening to Nate1 and Roman talk about graffiti

Of course defenestration is part of the mural walk!

Shailesh getting down!

Special treat for the eBay-ers, Mike "Bam" Tyau on site to drop some knowledge

Wall crazy!

Stenciling!

When they were told that they were allowed to paint on the wall, they just went for it and didn’t look back.  You can see the excitement in everyone’s eyes, so the teachers, Nate1 and Roman, stepped back and let them just go at it.  People painted hearts, Maneki Neko (good luck beckoning cats), Iron Maiden, Bart Simpson, letters and more.  The eBay-ers were such naturals at the wall.

Nate1 and Roman did a fantastic job teaching the eBay crew about graffiti.  We also had a special cameo appearance by Mike “Bam”.  The eBay-ers were lucky that they had all three of these guys dropping their knowledge on them.  We were grateful that Shailesh approached us to do this at 1:AM.  One of our goals as an urban and street gallery is to educate people about graffiti and dispel some of the negativity that surrounds this art form.   After the workshop was completed, I heard “Today was a good day” by Ice Cube playing in my head.  Indeed it was, a good day for the team from eBay and the crew at 1:AM.

eBay crew represent!

For more pictures, visit our flickr account.

If you are interested in our classes or group workshops, please email gina@1AMSF.com or visit www.1AMSF.com/classes/

Special thanks to Gina and Rocio for making this day happen!!!

Saturday, 9/19/09 from 4 – 6pm: Lily’s FREE Toy Modification Demonstration

Friday, 9/25/09 from 7:30 – 10:00pm : SHOPWARS!!! hosted with Delicious Drips

Click here for more information about Shopwars.

Saturday, 9/26/09 from 11am – 3pm (even though it goes through 6…we’ll play it by ear): 1:AM has a booth at Expo for Independent Arts at Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse

Click here to learn more about the Expo.

Thursday, 10/08/09 from 6:30 – 9:00pm : “Don’t Sweat the Technique: Can Film Festival” with Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle

Saturday, 10/10/09 from 11am – 5pm: Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle Finals @ deFremery Park

Click here to get more battle info.

Saturday, 10/17/09 from ???? : Public opening of “Wonderland” (Even though Roman and Robert are going to start working on the mural a week before opening…if you are in the ‘loin, make sure you say hey!)

For more information about Wonderland, click here.

Then, CLASSES throughout September and October!!!: Stencil, Toy Modification, the Art of Graffiti, Mural Production…

If you are interested, holla at gina@1amsf.com or sign up here.

Phew!  I am tired already and I feel that I am missing something…  Hope to see some of you at these events!

You interested in classes?  Holla at gina@1amsf.com or sign up here.