Boy's Spirit Lives In Art
Submitted By N.O.V.A.
Times Picayune 	04-6-1997


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Andrew Elkins would have made a great columnist.

His newspaper was short on objectivity, but long on wit and strong opinions.

Andrew started publishing his little paper in 1994, when he was a second-grader at
Isidore Newman School. He used his own money to photocopy it for his classmates.

"I remember one day he handed me four rolls of film, and when I asked him what it
was, he said, 'It's trash,' " said his mom, Kate. "He'd been going around taking
pictures of trash."

That week Andrew reported on the "litterbugs" in his neighborhood and provided
photographic evidence to go with his story.

Another issue was devoted to the virtues of dogs. "But cats, now, I don't know
about cats," Andrew wrote. He included a photo of Rip, a neighbor's dog, and some
subtle reminders that an 8-year-old boy should have a dog of his own.

"Andrew always wanted a dog," Kate said. "He would probably be furious to know
that we got one after he died."

J.D. (short for Just Dog) arrived at the Elkins house on Christmas Day 1995. "He
was something to make our kids smile a little," Kate said.

*** A family's tragedy ***

There wasn't much to smile about that Christmas.

Andrew was killed Oct. 13, when he darted in front of a car, in a hurry to watch
his big brother Nick play football at a Newman game.

He was 9, in third grade, the youngest of five children.

Kate calls him "the sparkplug" of the family. "He was so full of life. He just had
a special bond with everyone," she said.

That day had been a school holiday, and Kate had taken Andrew and his brother
Geoffrey to Planet Hollywood for lunch.

She bought them baseball caps and took pictures of them clowning at Jackson
Square. At some point Geoffrey asked to take a picture, and the result is a photo
Kate will always cherish.

It shows her and Andrew, their arms wrapped around each other, grinning into the
sunshine.

In the dark days that followed, one thing that sustained Kate and her husband,
Gary, was the support they got from Newman.

"They brought busloads of kids to Andrew's funeral," Kate said. "They never shied
away."

*** School's sensitivity ***

The football team put "ACE" on their helmets for the rest of that season, in
memory of Andrew Clayton Elkins - pint-sized newspaper publisher, cartoonist and
creator of ACE comics. He was also a talented artist and Jim Carrey impressionist.

"Andrew had so much spunk," Kate said. "He was a funny, creative, wonderful kid."

Friends of the Elkins wanted to create a lasting tribute to Andrew, something that
would reflect the kind of wonderful kid he was. They came up with the Andrew
Clayton Elkins Memorial Fund for the Creative Arts.

Each year Newman will hold Andrew Elkins Day in Andrew's honor, and the school
will bring in artists to share their expertise with the students. "It's the nicest
way I can think of to remember Andrew," Kate said.

Thursday marked the first celebration, which included cakes in every classroom
with "Let's remember Andrew" written on them; a seminar for advanced art and art
history students, presented by art collector Roger Ogden and artist Garland
Robinette; and an assembly for upper-school students led by Ogden and Randolph
Delehanty, author of "Art in the American South: Works from the Ogden Collection."

Their presentation was a lively and entertaining talk and slide show that was part
history, part biography and part art appreciation.

"Andrew would have loved it," Kate said.