FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Seventeen-year-old Amir Edwards didn't think he liked painting until he joined the Artists' Studio summer program.

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"It's messy and weird," he said. "And it smells funny."
     
His opinion changed after he started taking art classes at Fayetteville State University through the Ellington-White Project. Prior to joining the Artists' Studio, Amir drew what he called "graffiti-style" images by hand. Picking up a paint brush and putting it to canvas had never crossed his mind.
     
"I came here, and it changed a lot," said Amir, as he painted yellow squares on a sky-blue background. "I didn't like painting. Now painting is kind of cool."
     
Amir, a junior at Terry Sanford High School, was one of more than 30 students ages 8 to 17 who participated in the six-week program this summer. His twin sister, Zakiyyah, also was in the program.
     
The Fayetteville Observer reported that the Ellington-White Community Development Corporation, based in Detroit, is a not-for-profit organization that teaches arts to inner-city youth. The Ellington-White Project, which is under the umbrella of the corporation, provides year-round arts programs for youth.
     
Cumberland County's summer program, which ran from July 7 to Aug. 13, was supported by grants and other assistance from CommuniCare, the Cumberland Community Foundation, the Junior League of Fayetteville and FSU.
     
The students learned about composition, art history, paper making, painting, drawing and other styles of visual art. Their work is scheduled to be displayed during Fourth Friday at sfL+a Architects gallery on Burgess Street. About 60 pieces of work, which amounts to about two pieces from each child, will be shown.
     
Amir said he enjoyed learning how to paint because it showed him a side of art he hadn't been exposed to.
     
"It's different," he said. "It's not like paper that you can just ball up and chuck it. With this you got to sit and think. We talked about this for about 15 to 20 minutes before we even started."
     
Growing up, Amir said, drawing had always been an outlet for him and his sister. Taking formal art classes, he said, broadened his artistic experience and gave him a greater appreciation of art.
     
"Art is what I like," said Amir, a strikingly tall teenager with a shock of black hair. "You don't have to be good at it. It's just something you do for you."
     
Dwight Smith, the program director, believes in the life-changing power of art. Amir is an example of how the project has helped transform lives. The idea is to get children to start thinking on their own about how to grow and develop in their own lives.
     
"When you plan out a drawing, it's like planning out your life," Smith said. "You're planning out what you need to do to make it successful."
     
Smith, an art professor at Fayetteville State University, brought Ellington-White to Cumberland County after moving from Michigan.
     
"Many of the young people are really latching onto the whole experience of art and enjoying it," Smith said. "Many of them are coming out with their own individual styles."
     
The classes were separated by age groups. The children came from all walks of life including those who belong to Cumberland County CommuniCare, a local nonprofit organization that provides services aimed at reducing juvenile delinquency and youth substance abuse.
     
"We're dealing a demographic of young people who have substance abuse issues or parenting issues, and then some young people who just want to take art classes," Smith said. "The idea is to kind of mix them all together and not think of any of them as having any issues, but looking at them as all being on the same playing field."
     
Each student was provided with art supplies for the program, including watercolors, drawing pencils, erasers, scissors, glue and oil pastels. FSU provided the art space so the students could get a feel for what it's like to work in a proper art room.
     
FSU art students Mike Romagano, Shantel Scott and Kimberly Anderson worked alongside Smith and program artist Noreda Hess to teach the children one-on-one. Rose-Ann Bryda served as the program staff developer.
     
Hess said she enjoyed seeing how much the children grew through the process.
     
"They become more positive and self-confident," she said. "And freer to express themselves."
     
That's true for 14-year-old Joya Davis who said the class gave her a better understanding of art. Joya hopes to either become an architect, a fashion designer or an interior designer someday.
     
"It's like expressing," she said. "Letting everything out."     

On a recent Thursday, she was painting the scene of a sunny day at the beach. Joya wanted to paint the ocean because she hadn't had a chance to visit the beach all summer.
     
"I've been stuck in a group home," she said as she dipped her brush in a glob of yellow paint.
     
She ran the brush across a blank part of the canvas to create the sandy beach. Once that dried, she planned to add beach balls and an umbrella to finish the scene.
     
"I love to imagine it and draw and just feel it," she said.
     
Seated in a desk behind Joya, 15-year-old Lauren Gregg painted a pink sunset over a deep blue sea. Lauren, a sophomore at Douglas Bird High School, worked quickly and quietly on her canvas.
     
"I wasn't really good at painting," she said. "This is actually my best I ever painted before."