Language barriers are lifted for Colombian painter's students

MARIETTA - That Enrique Sanchez speaks little English is little barrier to stirring the imaginations of his students. <br> <br> An accomplished painter in his native Colombia, with his works published in a book and exhibits seen in Paris and Barcelona, Spain, Sanchez uses art to communicate to his class at the James T. Anderson Boys and Girls Club. <br> <br> His students&#39; works from papier-mache masks to a wobbly legged lizard sculpted from green and yellow clay show the enthusiasm for art he has instilled in them. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s just amazing,&#39;&#39; fifth-grader Lenin Almonte said. ``He got a balloon and put glue and newspaper all over it for making masks. Then he popped the balloon. I thought the balloon would have popped as soon as you put the newspaper on it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Sanchez moved to the metro area from Cali, Colombia, in 2000 when his wife, Luz Bella, became a teacher at the Atlanta International School. <br> <br> With two of his three sons on scholarships at Georgia colleges, 48-year-old Sanchez began teaching art full-time at the Boys and Girls Club in September. <br> <br> ``When he first came, it was a challenge for the kids to understand what he wanted,&#39;&#39; club director Sharon Mapp said. ``Having two to three kids in the class who could translate made it easier. Now most of the kids are learning Spanish, as well as art.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Sanchez has exposed to the children types of art they had never seen before. <br> <br> ``They were doing more crafts before,&#39;&#39; Mapp said. ``Now they are more creative and using their imagination more.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> For Sanchez, the joy of teaching comes from the hope that he&#39;s nurturing great artists of the future. <br> <br> ``I can&#39;t even express how wonderful it would be to see one of these kids doing their own exhibition one day,&#39;&#39; he said in Spanish, translated by Boys and Girls Club worker Medalit Dean. <br> <br> But awakening his students&#39; creativity is his goal. <br> <br> ``Art will be the basis for their future whether they go into art or not,&#39;&#39; Sanchez said.

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