Westside Art CenterMoves Without Missing a Beat

When an arson fire gutted much of the Westside Art Center’s home in a Santa Monica elementary school in August, the staff kept holding outdoor classes until summer art camp closed. Then the Westside Children’s Museum offered to share its site (at a nearby elementary school), and the art center plans to stay for a while. Not a single class had to be canceled.

The art center offers programs for 2- to 12-year-olds, including edible art, kaleidoscope-making, clown workshops, recorder lessons and tours of artists’ studios. All the instructors are professional artists. Classes are held after school, weekends and during school vacations.

This Sunday the center is offering one of its most popular classes: Massive Maze Making, suitable for children 6 to 12. Participants will begin by working on a table-top-size maze. Once the concept is mastered, the youngsters will make a life-size version, taping together 3-by-6-foot pieces of cardboard. The workshop runs from 1:30 to 4 p.m. with time built in to play in the maze.

The Westside Art Center is at 1302 11th St. The workshop is $15, and reservations may be left on the answering machine: (213) 395-1443.

Future workshops include skull sculpture, hobbyhorse and doll making, and gingerbread house making. Call for a brochure.