creative class
Lessons On and Off the Pavement: Project LOOP inspires creative mentorships
Project LOOP (Lesson's On and Off The Pavement) is a new non-profit organization whose aim is to gather a network of creative working professionals interested in giving back to impressionable young kids by offering access, insight and inspiration about their creative careers. Partnering with folks and organizations who are passionate about what they do and sharing it with others, Project LOOP will get kids active in the creative world and offer them the chance to gain experience, knowledge and confidence. How? Through exercises, projects and field trips all aimed to give kids lessons on "accountability, honesty of word, pride in work, responsibility, team work" and more but by doing it in a fun, accessible and totally hip way.
Project LOOP's founder, Brent Humphreys, is an internationally-recognized, extraordinarily-talented photographer who's worked with such clients as ESPN, ESQUIRE, Field & Stream, The New York Times, WIRED and more. He lives in a badass Mid-Century Modern home, is just about the friendliest person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and probably has an amazing cowboy boot collection. To say there is a lot going on in his life is an understatement. I mention all this to really underscore how passionate and committed to this new project he is; Brent was already doing incredibly motivating and inspiring things with his life, but knowing others had a huge hand in helping him create an incredible career, he wanted to pass on those opportunities and inspirations to kids who may not yet see life for its amazing possibilities.
A super cool example of something Project LOOP and its kids and partners have done that you might have seen so far: that totally tubular, seven foot-high skate ramp built by kids (assisted by University of Texas architecture students and under the guidance of Cary Jackson of California Ramp Works and owner of Brown Skateboards Chris Carrasquillo) as seen at this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest. (You can totally watch a video of it in action here and read more about it here). And that's just one awesome project Project LOOP's produced. Read more about what they've done, what's in store for the future and why Humphreys decided to take on this labor of love.
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Why start it?
Let's face it, teenage years are difficult and often overwhelming for kids. The pressures of knowing exactly what you want to be, what college, how it all works, is alot. Kids need help and support to find confidence and comfort in their decisions. I think it's particularly important in rural areas such as Taylor [Texas]. Kids here just don't have the access to things that others might in a big city. I was lucky or unlucky, depending how you look at it, in Dallas, but I had no clue what I wanted to be and the pressure was overwhelming. I knew I enjoyed architecture and photography but never considered them a legitimate career choice mostly because I didn't have an understanding of how.
Just after high school, as I was considering joining the Navy, I was lucky enough to meet a notable commercial photographer named True Redd through a used auto purchase. As we did the paperwork on the car, I asked Mr. Redd, "If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?" He replied that he was a commercial photographer. After explaining I was into photography and had been shooting BMX and skating with my mom's Canon AE-1 since the age of 13, he offered me his business card and invited me to visit his studio and see what it was all about. I called him the next day and spent many subsequent days there just soaking it up. His sharing his professional world was just the spark I needed.
I will never forget the day I went home and proclaimed, "Mom, Dad, I want to be a photographer." My dad reared up from his lazy boy and sternly replied, "Son, what are you going to do, work at Olan Mills?" I went on and on telling them both the possibilities abound with photography, all of which I knew very little of and certainly lacked the confidence to pursue just days before. Mr. Redd helped me acquire an alumni scholarship to the prestigious Brooks Institute and almost overnight I was on my way to California. After graduation, I was privledged to work as an assistant with the likes of Annie Leibowitz and Mark Seliger, etc. I've been fortunate to enjoy a great career as a photographer which has taken me around the world over. This was all made possible by a gentleman who simply took the time to share with me as I try to do now for the students in Project LOOP.
What gave you the idea?
I bought a historical home out in Taylor, Texas that has some acreage and I knew I wanted to share it with the community in some way but wasn't sure how. Over a cold beer at Ginny's Little Longhorn, University of Texas School of Architecture instructor Jack Sanders of Design Build Adventure and good friend had the idea of hosting an event here whereby his college students would erect structures from his class as they do in Marfa each year at El Cosmico. We agreed it would be great to invite local Taylor High School kids to get involved.
The event, which was named Art + Shelter 17, was a huge success; we made the front page of The Taylor Daily Press and the kids out here loved it. That really got me thinking and wanting to do more. I tried to imagine a program that would go beyond just architecture and photography as to benefit more kids so I started talking to people about it. The next thing I knew, we had a network in place and people began submitting great ideas.
When did Project LOOP start?
We started in April 2011 and ramped up hard over the summer. We did at least one excursion a week, many of which were into Austin. The kids are back in school now, so things have calmed and we're waiting on our 501(c)3 status to come through before we put out the all points bulletin. The support has been overwhelming but I had to stop talking to people about the program so much because everyone wants to be involved. Currently, we lack the infrastructure to handle it all.
Who are these kids?
The kids are primarily Taylor High School Students, but we have some young guns as well, our youngest being Helen Hughes, age 10. Helen just recently sat in on Jack Sanders class at UTSOA and designed and created her own structure here on the property, which was on display for our "RELIEF" Benefit. The college kids were quite impressed! We also have a few kids from Hutto who just joined and are very excited. All of these kids are eager to learn and see the opportunity to get a leg up on life. We have kids who want to be architects, film makers, graphic designers, PR, etc. and we aim to hook em' all up via internships, scholarships, etc. At this point finding kids is very much a word of mouth thing. I'm a one man show right now so I can only fit so many in the church van we borrow from Mt. Calvary Baptist Church to shuttle the kids around. We hope to raise money for our own van in time to roll up all proper!
What's up with that BMX trail in your backyard?
We've been working with Austin-based companies Full Factory Distribution, SUNDAY bikes and ODYSSEY BMX, to teach kids pump track design and build here in the woods. The ultimate goal to present a design and model for a trail system here at a city park in addition to a skate element.
What else have you guys done since starting?
We partnered with Progress Coffee and had a day trip there where the kids learned the business of coffee and roasting from owner Joshua Bingamon. Kids then paired off into teams and had a branding lesson given by Chris Bilhemer (Creative Director for REM) and Christian Helms of Helms Workshop. The coffees will debut next week and proceeds will go towards funding the BMX and Skatepark. We partnered with the Taylor Marketing Team to create posters to promote Taylor events like the 61st annual Rodeo and the 9th Anuual Fly-In. We worked with Austin-based artist Jaime Cervantes to teach graphic design and screen printing. We partnered with Brown Boards and Transmission Entertainment to create a 48' half pipe for Fu Fun Fun Fest 6—it was a huge success and the kids had a blast. We ran a pop up shop there to get the LOOP word out and sell our branded merch. We did a field trip into Austin and a home tour with Dean of Architecture, Kevin Alter of Alterstudio, whom I met while shooting for Dwell. By Summer 2012, we hope to have a van to get kids into Austin for field trips, internships, mentor days, etc.
Where are you guys getting funding for all this?
It's all on me right now but I believe so passionately about the model that I'm willing to risk it. I can sense that more help is coming.
Who did y’all’s branding/identity?
Tom Brown Art + Design out of Vancouver, CA. He's one of the most talented and respected in the business. He's even done a few cyber classrooms with us and we hope to do more of these with others who are not local.
How are you finding the time to do this while still being a kick-ass, world-famous photographer?
It's not easy I can tell you...
What’s up in the future?
Alot trust me... I've never been more invigorated and I feel like we're just hitting our stride.
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To find out more about Project LOOP, visit their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. (their website is slated to be finished soon). You can also email Brent directly if you wanna help: bh@projectloop.tv. And check out all the awesome work Brent's done over the years on his online portfolio.