I, artbot, is DAVA in action - Sentinel Colorado

AURORA |Stepping into Downtown Aurora’s Visual Arts’ gallery these days is like stepping onto the set of the latest Michael Bay film. Upon passing through the threshold of the organization’s studio space on Florence Street in northwest Aurora, patrons are greeted with luminous, incandescent eyeballs, the screech of electronic motors and the steady whine of miniature cogs grinding against one another.

Hiram Saucedo, 15, attaches a freshly-charged battery to get his robot moving Sept. 22 at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Alberto Leon, 14, places the final piece to Hiram Saucedo’s robot suit Sept. 22 at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Luis Padilla, 11, watches a robot dances Sept. 22 at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Hiram Saucedo, 15, wears a robot suit in front of a wall of robot drawings Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts. DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Hiram Saucedo, 15, tries to grab his robot helmet with his robotic hands Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Artist and teacher Rudi Monterroso rewires Tina (pronounced with a short “i”) so that her eyes will light up Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Rudi Monterroso (left) helps Hiram Saucedo, 15, trouble-shoot a non-animation situation as they attach a battery to get Saucedo’s robot moving Sept. 22 at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

(From left to right, front) Luis Padilla, 11, Sabrina Nunez, 11, Melissa Caudillo, 11, (back) Bhumika Chhetri, 11, Mariana Leon, 13, Hiram Saucedo, 15, Alberto Leon, 14 and Aree Resendez,12 pose with their robots they made over a month of time at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts. DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Alberto Leon, 14, checks out a piece by artist Shane Evans Sept. 22 at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) Evans helped teach students the basic principles of electronics in order to animate their robots. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Hiram Saucedo, 15, dons a robot suit in front of a wall of robot drawings Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts. DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Mr. Skittles eyes and mouth light up Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

A window of robotic inspiration fills a classroom Sept. 22 at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

(From left to right) Ireland Reynolds, 13, Karina Saucedo, 14, and Hafsa Ali shot and directed a 45-minute film entitled “Calling All Robots” as part of the ArtBot exhibit at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA.) DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17 created robots in all shapes and sizes for their ArtBot exhibit. The exhibit is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 1 and features paintings and sculptures of robots, animated robots and even a film about robots. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

However, the mechanical sites and sounds are the result of inventions a bit more benevolent than the menacing shape-shifters of Bay’s “Transformers” series. One example that sits just a few feet from the gallery’s entryway is Tina, a three-foot tall animatronic creature sporting a glistening tutu around her angular torso and a whisk for a left hand — a far cry from the kitchen the utensil may have once called home.

A couple of Tina’s creators, 11-year-olds Melissa Caudillo and Sabrina Nuñez giddily press buttons on a multi-colored remote to make her rhythmically rise up and down on the planks of wood that double as her feet. They’re painted hot pink in order to match her tutu, naturally.

“It’s called Tina (pronounced with a short ‘i’) because it’s made out of tin,” Caudillo explains.

Nuñez chimes in adding, “and she’s pink because she’s a
ballerina.”

No heat-seeking missiles here.

Tina is just one of the dozens of robots on display at the gallery as a part of DAVA’s ArtBots exhibit, which features paintings and sculptures of robots, as well as fully animated ones, created by DAVA students between the ages of 3 and 17.

“The idea was to combine art and robotics,” Susan Jenson, executive director of DAVA said. “We wanted to incorporate that whimsy that comes from kid’s imaginations, allow them to really attach that to a subject and make it their own.”

Dozens of Aurora children worked with DAVA employees, instructors and visiting artists over the summer to create a slew of humanoid life forms utilizing almost entirely recycled or repurposed materials ranging from old laundry machines to camera lenses.

“My hope is that maybe in the future they see an old printer on the side of road and recognize that there’s probably some good stuff in there,” said Shane Evans, one of the visiting artists who helped teach students how to Frankenstein seemingly useless electronics back to life. Evans is a Denver-based artist who creates all of his art — his most recent work being a 30-foot fire-breathing robot — from materials he finds in junkyards, scrap piles or just happens to stumble upon.

“It was a great experience,” he said of facilitating the ArtBots exhibition. “They actually created little robots that were overall very cool. I just hope they gained some knowledge beyond just putting the pieces together.”

In less than two months, Evans taught students many basic principles of electronics, including basic circuitry and soldering in order to animate their robots and turn their visions into reality.

“I saw the kids get really involved and kind of just see their minds working,” he said. “It was really cool seeing them engage with the material and have fun with it.”

On top of working with Evans, some student groups teamed with two-dimensional local artist Dan Sorensen to create drawings of robots whose imagined purposes range from translation to helping with homework. Other groups worked with professors from the Community College of Aurora and the Colorado Film School to create short, robot-centric films. One group of teens produced, shot and directed a 45-minute film entitled “Calling All Robots.”

“I think we did a pretty good job,” Karina Saucedo, one of the students behind “Calling All Robots” and DAVA veteran said of the final project. “This year people were more involved.”

Saucedo, 14, is one of the many students in DAVA’s job training program, one of the outfit’s longest running and most successful programs for middle schoolers.

“The middle school program is getting more long term, conceptual and now involves a research project,” Jenson said. “It’s kids between the ages of 11 and 14 that are making decisions about their future and goes a log way toward fostering problem-solving, responsibility and team work.”

Aree Resendez — the 12-year-old mastermind behind a robot named Mr. Skittles — is another student in the job training program who believes that it has helped her hone her time management skills.

“We’re training like it’s a real job,” Resendez says. “Because you have to be here on time and have to make time up if you miss a day,” she says. “But I haven’t missed any because it’s too fun.”

ArtBots is open to the public Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Nov. 18. Admission is free.