By Judy Goddess

“Big and Vast and Full of Wonders,” an art installation by students from the Inner Sunset’s Independence High School, now on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), introduces museum visitors to the world of some creative young people whose work has traditionally not been displayed in an art museum.

From now until October, visitors to SFMOMA have an opportunity to view portraits and clay pieces produced by the students. Admission to the installation – which is in “Steps,” the museum’s second floor coffee shop – is free and open to the public.

Opening night, May 8, found an excited crowd of students, friends and parents clustered around the 20 artists whose work was on display. The installation evolved from the involvement of Jennifer Klecker, the school’s art teacher, in an advisory group of teachers and SFMOMA staff concerned with how to better incorporate the museum’s artwork into the public-school curriculum while at the same time expanding the museum’s audience.

The title, “Big and Vast and Full of Wonders,” which the students chose, reflects “the support and kindness we experience at the school,” said Sam Babst, a senior at Independence.

The artists’ statement reads: “We make art because it is the unknown territory where we explore new horizons putting uncomfortable or scary things in our lives into perspective. The work (in the show) is an artifact of our process, where we voice, heal, reimagine and find belonging. Our storylines intersect at Independence High School. Here we find a community committed to providing support on each individual’s academic and personal journey.”

Babst, who contributed a short nuclear blast “Explosive Headlines” to the video loop, is heading to a year of basic art training at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, where she will study art fundamentals in hopes of pursuing a career in animation.

“Art (is) a creative outlet. It’s very freeing,” said Jake Cookson, another student whose work was on display. Unlike Babst, with whom he has produced some zines, Cookson does not plan to make a living from his art.

“That’s too hard a way to live,” he said.

Cookson, who transferred to Independence several years ago from Abraham Lincoln High School, plans to study marine biology.

“This piece,” he said, pointing to his clay creation, “is a salmon molting. People say it looks like a frog, but it’s a salmon.”

Christie Lao’s painting shares what she is passionate about – flowers, poetry, deserts, nature, stuffies and the beauty of the universe.

“Be happy is what my heart tells me as I step ahead into my future,” she said.

Although this is only her first year at the school, Lao loves the flexibility of Independence and says other students here make Indepenence a wonderful place. As part of a partnership between City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Lao takes an ethnic studies class at CCSF.

Savanh Thebpanya, a graduating senior, attended George Washington High School before transferring to Independence two years ago. Thebpanya chose Independence because “the teachers are always there for you if you need help.”

“My painting is a remembrance of my late father,” Thebpanya said. “He was a tattoo artist. He was all about family and love. We live by what he taught us, and we stay strong together. That’s the Thebpanya legacy.”

A part-time employee at Trader Joe’s and a skateboarder with several sponsors, including Adidas, Thebpanya plans to study business at San Francisco State University.

A short video of two Independence High School students talking about prior, less-welcoming visits to museums runs on a continuous loop in the coffee shop. In the video, two students, Zaynah Alghazali and Lucia Rocchio, discuss their class trip to see the (now closed) Amy Sherald exhibit and their earlier visits to museums.

“I never saw me in them (museums),” Alghazali said.

Rocchio added, “When I was a kid, I leaned against a wall with some printing and the guard yelled at me. I cried; he was a strange grown-up yelling at me.”

Now, making new associations with museums, these students’ work is on the walls and the shelves at SFMOMA. With “Big and Vast and Full of Wonders,” SFMOMA has opened its doors to students, and they are leaving their imprint for all to see.