Dance, visual arts education a source of identity, therapy for two Sonoma County students

Dance has been therapeutic for Sophie Flores, but also an integral part of her daily routine for most of her life.

The 17-year-old Santa Rosa High School senior began ballet dancing as a child, and after years of competitions she admitted she never fully enjoyed, Flores found her niche in choreographed dance and musical theater with her high school’s ArtQuest magnet program.

Arts education advocates in Sonoma County think sustained access to a comprehensive arts curriculum can help students with social and emotional development, increase cognition and cultivate self-confidence.

Flores and Windsor High School junior Moises Sanchez, a visual artist, exemplify many of those qualities.

They called on school district leaders to take action on the five-year plan released last month by Creative Sonoma and the Sonoma County Office of Education.

It provides a long-term strategy to increase opportunities for local public school students to participate in the arts and benefit outside the classroom like Flores and Sanchez have.

Flores said dancing gives her a platform to break free of expectations and a sanctuary for unfiltered expression and healing that other students could benefit from.

Part of the reason she chose to attend Lewis and Clark College in Portland next year was to pursue its extracurricular dance program.

“I’ve worked through a lot,” Flores said. “One of the most fulfilling things is watching the audience (react) and seeing my dancers commit to the movement (I choreographed). I went through something, let it out, watch it unfold and here it is. It’s on stage and done. It’s closure.”

Sanchez, 16, was introduced to drawing by his grandmother. He stuck with it, and over the years, honed his techniques in whatever art classes were available ?in school.

As Sanchez got older, “my knowledge of what it meant to me expanded,” he said, and enabled him to embrace his identity through different pieces of artwork he created.

One example was a portrait titled “The Code,” which he said is intended to spark self-reflection ?about the unfair “code of conduct” placed on marginalized and stigmatized groups.

“Art has helped me express myself,” Sanchez said. “It was difficult accepting myself for who I was, and I was very self-conscious of what others thought of me. I got to put who I was into my art and grow as a person.”

Being a full-time artist can be difficult financially, and Sanchez said he doesn’t intend to pursue it as a career, but “art will be a part of my life forever.”

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.