Through its year-round program of basketball and one-to-one academic mentoring, Crossover Mission is redirecting the lives of at-risk children by providing structure, accountability and positive role models. They also seek to broaden the horizons of their young charges, and a recent trip to the Vero Beach Museum of Art resulted in a tangible example of that effort.
Leslie Bergstrom, a Crossover board member who is also a VBMA trustee and docent, recently took a group of eight elementary school-aged campers on an enlightening trip to the museum. They were so fascinated by the Christo and Jeanne-Claude exhibit that they decided to emulate the famed duo by wrapping a portable basketball hoop and, of course, a basketball.
The blue-wrapped work of art currently stands in front of what will soon be Crossover Mission’s new home, a former citrus packing house on U.S. 1.
“Leslie is the connection who brought this all together,” said Cathy De Schouwer, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit. “She took them on a tour of the museum and showed them how to really get into the meaning of art. They were all loving it and asking if they could sign up for camp at the museum. So it’s been a really awesome combination.”
“We just thought this would be a fun, neat way for them to feel like artists. Show that they, too, can make something meaningful, like real professional artists,” said Bergstrom.
“When we walked through the museum, I talked all about how Christo and Jeanne-Claude grew up, and how they were born on the very same day, and we looked at all their different projects. They got it,” said Bergstrom. “I was trying to get across that Christo was doing this to give mystery and extra meaning to everyday objects. What’s underneath? What does it look like?”
“To them, a basketball hoop is more than a mundane piece of their life. It’s important; it’s how they get to where they want to go. They revere the basketball and the basketball hoop, so it’s sort of a tribute to what they hold dear,” added De Schouwer.
The students met with Bergstrom to make schematic drawings, just as Christo had done for their smaller wrapped pieces as well as their colossal projects.
“We planned and talked about using tape and rope and putting it on U.S. 1, so people could see it and wonder what it was; just like back in the day when the French public wanted to know,” said Bergstrom. “It’s kind of an exciting thing, that they can have people drive by and see it.”
Bergstrom said they bought a huge blue painters’ tarp, which could be easily cut apart.
“We cut it into strips of different sizes and tried to make it simple enough for kids to do without getting frustrated. When you’re doing these big projects, the kids need to be involved. And you have to get it down to the smallest common denominators so that they can actually do it,” she added.
Bergstrom said she also took the students through the education wing, where their own artwork could potentially be hung one day, telling them: “This is your place, this could be a place where you go after school or on weekends.”
The visit clearly resonated, said Bergstrom, noting that they have begun drawing on their own and asking questions. “And they gave me thank-you letters all about what I talked about. I was so touched that they actually listened,” she added.
In her role as a museum trustee, Bergstrom said she hopes to get more children and families interested in visiting, wanting them to think of it as more than a “scary building with old art that doesn’t relate to them.”
Sara Klein, VBMA director of education, gave free admission passes to the participants’ parents and De Schouwer said two children have already taken them up on the offer, wanting to show their parents what they’ve learned.
Even the basketball in the wrapping has special meaning.
“That’s one of our COVID balls up there; it says ‘Crossover,’” De Schouwer explained. “When COVID started and we couldn’t have basketball anymore, one of our donors gave us money to buy all the kids a ball so they could practice at home. It’s very sentimental because it was such a weird time.”
For more information, visit crossovermission.com.
Photos by Kaila Jones
