Students snap up history

About 30 high schoolers with cameras streamed into the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa on Tuesday morning.

“You can talk normally,” the Rev. Julie Elkins told the hushed group. “You don’t have to whisper.”

She showed them an original hand-painted, stained-glass window from 1928, and the group started snapping photos.

“This church is 101 years old,” she said. “It’s the oldest church in Costa Mesa.”

First United Methodist began meeting on April 7, 1912, moving to the sanctuary on 19th Street in Costa Mesa in 1928, she said.

That’s where art students from Costa Mesa, Estancia and Newport Harbor high schools gathered on the second stop of their photo tour of the city’s historical locations.

Throughout the day, they collected photos that will be shown in a “then and now” exhibit to celebrate Costa Mesa’s 60th anniversary later this year.

The group stopped at sites like First United Methodist for a historical perspective of the city and will contrast them with photos of Costa Mesa’s more recent iconic locations, including Segerstrom Center, Costa Mesa teacher Kirby Piazza said.

“I never knew this was even a church,” Mesa senior Nik Kieler said.

He pointed his camera toward the stained-glass windows above the sanctuary’s pews.

“I try to get a feeling of what the place is about and capture it in a picture,” he said of his process.

He and every other student will submit their best photos from the daylong field trip.

Those pictures will be arranged into the exhibit opening June 5 at Orange Coast College’s Art Center Gallery, Piazza said.

The city has a birthday bash planned from June 29 to 30.

“It’s going to be interesting to see everyone’s perspectives,” Harbor teacher Lisa Cermak said as students around her aimed their cameras in different directions.

After about 20 minutes, the students got ready to move on to their next stop, but not before taking a few exterior photos.

Students craned forward or angled their cameras skyward to capture the church’s iconic bell tower, as Elkins pointed out the original bell preserved in the nearby sign.

“And there is the original door from 1928,” she said, pointing out one last historical tidbit as students headed back to the bus.