Wine, brie, crackers and caviar are standard fare at most museum exhibition openings. But soda, potato chips, salsa and gummy bears were the cuisine of choice at the public opening of “Talkin’ Back 2: Chicago Youth Respond” on May 10 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, 600 S. Michigan Ave.

Children crowded into the gallery and seemed to rival the number of adults present at the museum, But it wasn’t the sugary and salty snacks that drew them in. The proud students came to the museum to see their artwork adorning the walls.

“Talkin’ Back 2” featured works made by more than 200 students from seven different Chicago public schools. After the success of last year’s show with six Chicago schools, organizers decided to make the exhibit an annual event.

Students participated in workshops with photographers and writers since October to learn how to express their creative voices by blending images and words.

“I feel like I’m at some famous gallery in New York,” says Annette Elmore, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Beethoven Elementary School. “This is great exposure for (the students) to see their work and others’.”

Students learned the process of photography, from envisioning an image to developing it in the dark room. Photographers and writers in programs sponsored by the museum, After School Matters and the Office of Community Arts Partnerships Columbia College Chicago helped the student artists develop their own voices.

The works, which focus on the theme of identity and the self, ranged from self-portraits paired with self-reflections to still life photography matched with haikus to poetry on scrolls and illustrated storybooks.

“I wanted this to be a sense of empowerment for black children,” says Medea Brooks, an academic adviser at Beethoven. “They think in order to have a voice they have to be a dancer or rapper.”

Students also were encouraged to incorporate writing into their photography. On one wall of the museum was the phrase “One Thousand Words.” Underneath was a poster of words that the students associated with “rhythm,” the word chosen by teachers and students from a list. Next to the poster were the words “One Thousand Pictures,” and surrounding the title were more than 200 photographs taken by the students that represented “rhythm.” Subjects included a drum set, a traffic light and a young girl in motion.

“We wanted to combine photography and writing to help students find their own voices,” Brooks says. “This (program) is to help get kids thinking more in depth.”

Workshop leaders, known as “teaching artists,” gave disposable cameras to their students and, together they developed their own themes.

Students at ACT Charter School, which serves grades 6-12, made self-portraits and wrote letters addressed to someone close to them that revealed details about their lives, dreams and values.

Herzl Elementary School students took self-portraits with view cameras and wrote reflections on how it felt to be both a subject and photographer. One student describes it as “the experience of a lifetime.”

Amid the displayed photography was a video called “07Run This” created by 25 students from Elmore’s class. The video featured still photographs taken by students with their narration explaining why they selected these particular photos for the competition.

Beethoven sixth grader Kiara Furtute, 12, selected a picture of herself making funny faces with her friends before lunchtime. She says the workshop tested what she was capable of doing.

“Sometimes when it comes out, it doesn’t look right the first time,” Furtute says. “But I worked real hard and other people can do it, too,” she says.

Joel Wanek, 31, of Chicago, was a teaching artist for the 20-week program at Providence St. Mel School and the 14-week program at Sabin Magnet Elementary School. He says his ultimate goal was to make students more literate with visual language so they could approach photography more fluently.

“Once (students) see that there is a wide variety of forms and ways photography can be made, it’s a lot easier for them to find a personal connection,” he says.

He emphasizes how important it is for students to have an outlet as prominent as the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and he says he wished there were more opportunities for students.

“To see their work in a different context on the wall with others seeing it validates them and hopefully changes how they view photography and themselves,” he says.

“We want the students to feel proud about their achievements,” says Corrine Rose, the museum’s manager of education, who organized the program with Cynthia Weiss, assistant director of school partnership for the Office of Community Arts Partnership.

For 11-year-old Mark Mathis, a student at Beethoven, a mile-wide smile proved that he was proud of his picture of himself and his two friends standing on a bench, “acting cool.”

He says in addition to seeing what everyone had accomplished, looking at the other students’ artwork had an added bonus.

“It’s great because we might be famous in the future,” Mathis says.

Medill sophomore Archana Ram is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].