There is more to art than meets the eye.

And that’s a big reason why the mother-daughter duo of Cyndi Esenwein and Sophie Serrano stepped up to share their passion for art with teens at the Thomas Toy Community Center.

“Art really is a vehicle to get kids (engaged),” Esenwein noted.

Esenwein retired two years ago after teaching art for 18 years in the Manteca Unified School District and previously in Stockton Unified.

Art, of course, allows teens to express themselves in ways they may never have thought possible.

But  at the same it has ability to help teens become focused, learn their capabilities, open up, and be more engaged much like being in organized sports, JROTC, and similar endeavors.

“It helps build confidence,” Esenwein said.

And the setting created at the Toy Center can do so in ways a structured school-based art program can’t.

“There’s less pressure,” said Esenwein of the Toy Center art program than what teens experience  in school.

It is an open studio approach where the teens basically decide what they would like to do in terms of projects and mediums.

Serrano, 22, also has an associate degree in art, pointed out students discover they can express themselves more effectively than they can on social media.

She added teens, who have never given art a try, are often amazed at what they can do.

Both are impressed with the art room developed at the Thomas Toy Center.

It has been augmented with supplies needed to offer a robust dive into the arts and creativity.

Esenwein and Serrano are among the volunteers who are helping mentor teens — the free center membership is open to middle and high school students — in areas such as basic car care, bicycle maintenance, gardening, social media production.

That is in addition to a café where students on a recent Tuesday where chatting with friends, doing homework, and playing boards games.

There is also a large “teen cave” with pool tables, foosball, couches, and such along with other activities that are part of the center being a safe haven.

To make the teen center as effective as possible, volunteers are needed to help mentor youth by sharing their skills and passions like Esenwein and Serrano or doing.

Volunteers are also needed with other aspects of the center’s operations.

The teen center on the southeast corner of Fremont and Yosemite avenues is now open two days a week.

Additional volunteers will mean the teen center hours will eventually be Monday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. with some weekends.

Volunteer hours can change based on need.

Volunteers are required to complete Live Scan prior to working with students.

 More information can be found at thomastoycc.org or by calling 209-407-2568.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com