The sunny room on the sixth floor of Cornish College smelled like paint. The crisp November air seeped in to the room, packed with high school students, painting shoulder to shoulder, their brows furrowed, as their arms whipped and darted, working paint into canvas.

The students are members of the Link program, an organization dedicated to serving youth in the arts. Once a month, Link connects a local, successful artist with aspiring teenagers. This week Laura Marks an abstract expressionist, was teaching how to show emotion, in paintings, without using recognizable shapes.

Garfield senior Amy Deng sat facing the window, working her brush to stroke, splat and scrape paint across her canvas. She carefully splatted drops of white on the array of color before turning the canvas vertical and letting the paint drip across yellow, orange and red.

Amy has plans. With some hard work and a healthy dose of luck she’s headed for Arts Center College in California next year. With a drop of luck after that she’s on track for a career in illustration and design. Link is helping her get the cogs turning.

A group of young artists started Link in 1994 when a shooting at Franklin left the student body angry and mourning. Link was built around a need to express this rage and fear, to act out in a productive way. “The idea was to just get students to think about emotions and express them positively,” said former art store owner and Link program director Donna Varetto.

At first the program mainly consisted of a reluctant group of students, forced into attending by their teachers, but it would grow to become an organization dedicated to opportunity and support.

For Amy this support is instrumental to her future in art. Her family does not support the hopes she harbors or the choices she is making for her future.

Amy’s father has always loved art, and when she was little, he introduced her to watercolors and they would paint together. When the family had to start over after they moved here from China, when Amy was two, he seized the chance to open a gallery. “He was able to do what he did because it was something he really loved,” she said, “and he was able to support his family.”

But it has been hard work, and her parents don’t want the same thing for her. “I told them I am going to art school and they say to look at other schools,” said Amy, “They ask, ‘Can you really do this?’. They’re ok as long as it’s a hobby. As a career it’s not good because you struggle.”

But she’s set her sights on a career she loves. “I have this vision that I am going to art school, this drive, so stuck in my mind that I can’t think of doing anything else.” she said. And the volunteers at Link provide inspiration and support, “They’re kind of role-models, people to look up to who pursued the same thing and succeeded. They can tell me their story and it’s like a guide.”

She swirls the paint in what looks like random patches of color. Slowly, with every stroke or splat, they begin to fit into one another, a perfect composition of color.

After several years at Franklin, Link expanded to create and effect in the larger community. “We wanted to be able to serve other students,” said Varetto, “at schools like Garfield, Sealth, and Rainier Beach.”

As the students at Franklin healed, the Link program turned from a necessary outlet of emotion to a place that widened the horizons for engaged students. “It changed from filling this need to express,” said Varetto, “to providing an opportunity students would not necessarily have in school.”

Garfield senior Lauren Davidson, who was sitting next to Amy, spinning out magenta, blue and black shapes, began drawing when she was little at her dad’s basketball games. Buoyed by the support of teachers and fellow students, she decided this is what she wants to do with her life.

“I definitely see art in my future.” Lauren said, “Art is hot right now in business, for logos and design concepts. I really want to go to the Art Institute of Chicago.”

Lauren has an advantage, since her parents are completely on board. “My mom once said, ‘anything for art’ when we were shopping for supplies,” she said.

For the most part, Link is just broadening her range of style. “It’s cool to learn a bunch of different techniques and use them in my other pieces. We had a class on figure drawing and I’ve started doing figure drawing a lot now. I want to do more pieces.”

The program model has been taken up across the United States. Recently a branch of Link sprang up in San Diego, based on Seattle’s program. “We’ve created a model,” said Varetto proudly, “We’re a gold standard. Our goal for the future is keeping what we’ve created consistent.”

Amy spatters the last drop on her second piece and Lauren adds a final stroke before they step into the circle to critique their work with their peers.

“Every time I go I meet someone new and hear their story,” Amy said. “People come from all these different schools and bring their experiences with art. All these stories are coming together for one goal.”

Under Laura’s direction, the students pored over their pieces, presenting, and mingling, supporting each other with their ideas and culture in a way no one else could.