Halloween at Hope U

Vera (on right), music therapist, assists Melanie with chocolate covered pretzel making.

Tanette Tuttle shows off her best 'spider woman' smile.

Students helped to make, and eat the spooky snacks.

Kim Mumper chose a to be a waitress for Halloween this year.

Jason Rosales, as Batman in Repose.

Tina and April show off their costumes together.

Artistic Director Shelley RuggThorp paints Darren Crow's face.

Darren shows off his pirate paint!

Carol Ryden is a very happy pumpkin princess.

Alexis D'Luna had much fun in her 'Jasmine' costume.

Halloween fell on a Monday this year and the students of Hope University had some fun.  Our annual Halloween party was a hit to be sure.  There were spooky snacks, 'bobbing' for chocolate covered pretzels, paper hat making, face painting, a 'pumpkin walk', a costume parade and of course, lots of dancing!  Here are a few comments from the students about this years Halloween party:
"I really like the music."
Lori Slikker
"I liked all of the decorations that we made."
Kris W.
"I had fun in the costume parade."
April Renick
"Getting to dress up like a witch was fun."
Joanna Buon-Cristiani
"I liked doing the pumpkin walk game."
Margaret Kelley
"I liked everything!"
Tanette Tuttle

Admiring the Mural

Cindy H. admires the mosaic.

Darren C. gets up close to a leaf.

Vicki V. poses with a flower.

Joanna B. with a car.

Rene, Chris and Karen enjoy their veggie burgers.

Hallway art gallery.

Diane, Chris and Rene view the art work.

This week the students of Hope University are took several small groups on a field trips to Integrity House in Santa Ana California.  We had  lunch with them, enjoyed the hallway art gallery and admired our beautiful mural which was created in tandem with that program.  Students, staff and volunteers from Hope University all collaborated in creating the mural on the outside of the Integrity House building.  It incorporates drawings, paintings and mosaics of the students art work. Whimsical and representational as well as some portraits of the clients at Integrity House.  We enjoyed veggie burgers, french fries, salad, apples slices and lentil soup, all of which were prepared by the staff and clients at Integrity House. 
On the dedication addition to the mural it states:
Trees represent a place of shelter.
Flowers represent the blossoming of a person.
Birds represent the ability to soar beyond other peoples expectations.
All of these are true about both programs and the students and clients who attend them. 
They find shelter and understanding with peers and staff at their programs.
They blossom as people, friends, family members and productive members of society.
They often soar well beyond all expectations put upon them by society and even themselves!
All so very true, and so much can be learned from them and their amazing ABILITIES!

Product Parade

White felt trees with buttons, sewn by Ana P. and Christie C.

Green felt and circle trees, sewn by Carol R., Ana P. and Cindy H.

Sea horse drawn by Tanette T., sewn by Cindy H.

Potato Man, drawn by Patty M. and sewn by Cindy H.

Hand knitted pin cushion, pen/pencil holder, knitted by Cindy H.

Hand knitted/felted purse, knitted by Lori S.

Felt fun food sewn by Cindy H.

Hand knitted/felted purse, knitted by Lori S.

Hand knitted/felted purse, knitted by Cindy H.

The Hope University students have been hard at work all year producing product for sale at our annual Holiday Program.  Along with classes in art, music, computer, dance, math, reading and geography they also make lovely items to raise money for the school.  Here you see several new items added this year by our amazing and talented students.  The staff at Hope University strives to cultivate and inspire their clients and help bring out their talents and abilities for all to see, appreciate and share.
"Oh the things you can think up if only you try!" Dr. Seuss.
The Hope University Holiday Program will be on December 13th, Tuesday evening at the Plummer Auditorium located at 201 E. Chapman Ave. Fullerton California. 
For more information about the Holiday Program, tickets or the products  Hope University produces you can call us at (714)778-4440 or visit our website at www.hopeu.com.

Listen to the Sound (Class)

Sound class participants come together in the circle.

Jim and Bradley move to the sound of Sound class.

Instructor Lisa (on left) leads a Sound class activity.

Instructor Lisa LoRusso teaches a class called 'Sound'.  Some of our students have perfect pitch, limited auditory ability, limited vocal ability and difficulty with sound moderation.  This class offers options for these barriers and creates an arena to explore sound, movement and art.  Some of the ways sound is explored in this class are movement correlations to vowel sounds, which helps to center and focus auditory input and spacial awareness.  Another favorite medium are the boom whackers, brightly colored tubes which you 'whack' to create deep resonating sounds that change with the tubes size.  These create a relationship between sound, color and vibration making it an auditory, visual and tactile sound experience.  Another activity is body movement to objects.  Making shapes with the body and vocalizing paired words such as 'sun' while moving the arms big and round like the sun, and 'moon' while creating a crescent shape with the arms.  Clients work in a parallel format as well as in a circle to create individual and group spaces that encourage body, space and auditory awareness.

Guest Artist Tom Walker

Kimmie N. shows off her creation.

Karen L. basks in the simplicity of her metal design.

Tina G. and Michelle E. are proud of their metal sculptures.

 A student explores the play of light and shadow on the metal.

Three metal sculptures.

Tom Walker demonstrates with a jack-o-lantern in metal.

Darren P. and Carol W. concentrate on their designs.

In August we had a guest artist come to Hope University.  His name is Tom Walker and his medium is metal.  He makes sculptures both large and small using metal to create his art.  Tom brought with him some rolls of wire which he cut into smaller lengths.  Each student was given a length of wire with which to work.  He showed the students some examples of shapes to make, like a pair of glasses or a bicycle and talked about how to work with the wire.  It looks almost like sketching in three dimensions! The students really enjoyed working with the wire and having a guest artist come to teach is such a treat!  We are all very thankful to Tom and hope he can come back again to help us create more art.
"I made a dolphin."
Lori Slikker
"I made a penguin and an Orca whale."
Tanette Tuttle
"I made a flower."
K.
"I made a snowman."
Bradley Clayman
"I made a Christmas tree."
Darren Crow
All of the students were inspired by Tom, he really brought out their metal creativity!

A Visit From The Mayor!

Mayor Tate with Hope U students; Margaret K., Tanette T., and Lori S.

Mayor Tate chatting with Hope U student Jason R. as student Amy L. and  Board President Matt Sauer join in.

Lori S. was so happy to meet Mayor Tate!

Hope University Board President Matt Sauer, Hope University Executive Director Jan Reyes and The Mayor of Anaheim Tom Tate.

The Mayor of Anaheim, Tom Tate, came by Hope University for a visit in August.  He had been invited to the Mural Unveiling but was unable to attend though he promised to come by the program and visit with us all on another day.  He kept his promise and we were all so excited to see him.  The Hi-Hopes performed for him and he was able to see the students hard at work on art projects, exploring music and in academic classes.  The students were able to shake his hand and show him around the classrooms here at Hope U.  It made us so proud that Mayor Tate made time in his busy schedule for us.  We really appreciate his interest in our program.  We are looking forward to seeing him and more of his staff soon.  Mayor Tate was so impressed by us that he brought his wife down the next day and meet us.  Thank you Mayor Tate!

Hope U Has A Lu-Wow!

Musical instructors Steve and Rene lead the students in an island drum circle.

Students making tropical fruit kabobs.

Students performed the 'Little Grass Shack' hula dance.

Tanette getting ready to throw in the ring toss game.

Alexis and other students dance to fun island inspired tunes.

The summer heat made us all think of going on a Hawaiian vacation, so we had one here!  There were tropical fruit kabobs, hula lessons, an island ring toss game, an native drum circle, a hula dance performance  and a DJ dance party! Fun was has by all!  Aloha!

"My favorite part of the day was the dance in the afternoon."
Kim Mumper

"My favorite part of the party was making the tropical fruit kabobs."
Lori Slikker

"I liked helping to cut up the strawberries and pineapple with my friends."
Tanette Tuttle

Museum Outing Goes Kinetic

Cathy at the Calder exhibit.

Alexis adding to the yarn sculpture.

The craft area at O.C. Museum of Art.

Yarn sculpture, in progress.

Several students enjoying the Calder inspired crafts.

Getting read for lunch on the patio.

The Hope University students loaded onto a bus for a quick jaunt down to the Orange County Museum of Art where there is currently an exhibit of Alexander Calder's work.  Alexander Calder was a kinetic artist, he loved to make sculptures that moved.  The bus moved the students to the museum where they were moved by his amazing work.  Alexander Calder often used red, white, blue, green and yellow when creating his sculptures.  He also made many mobiles that balance unbelievably.  The museum had an interactive section where the students were able to create art themselves.  They cut folded paper into shapes and added to an already in progress yarn sculpture.  So many of Hope University's students are actively involved in creating artwork daily so this field trip was an amazing inspiration. 
Here are a few inspiring moments:
"I liked the sculpture of the face, with all of the pieces hanging."
Ana Pinedeo
"I liked the sculpture of trees and flowers in a garden. I liked the exhibit so much I would like to go back again."
Margaret Kelley
"I liked making the craft, cutting and drawing at the table."
Jennifer Doyle