Kidzartz Brings Hands-On Art to Balboa Park

Kidzartz is child’s play designed for cultural enrichment that provides children with an overview of the performing and visual arts.

Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Kidzartz will transform Balboa Park into a beehive of artistic activity, including 12 indoor and outdoor venues scattered throughout the park. Admission to all events is free.

The brainchild of coordinator Elaine Krieger, who launched the project with a shoestring budget four years ago, Kidzartz represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream--to make the artistic experience accessible to San Diego school children.

“When I started, the school arts budget was cut drastically,” Krieger said. “There is more going on now, but it’s still not enough. And some of the children get almost nothing. Kidzartz is one of the few opportunities for children and parents to take advantage of, because it’s free.”

The cultural events run the artistic gamut from mime, modern dance and mask-making to puppetry, poetry and pop art. Activities include storytelling and formal performances by local arts organizations, but the emphasis is on hands-on participation by the children.

During its first year, Kidzartz played to about 15,000 people, and it has been growing rapidly ever since. The last Kidzartz Festival, which for the first time became a two-day event, attracted a record 40,000 people. Organizers expect to attract at least 50,000 this weekend.

“We have more than 35 different events this year,” spokesperson January Riddle said. “And there will be more multiethnic, traditional arts this time than ever before. We have African mask-making and an art exhibit by Mexican children. The Old Globe’s Teatro Meta will teach children how to create characters through theater games--in English and Spanish. Many of the attractions are new this year, like the Disneyland storytellers (Disney’s Magic Kingdom characters) and the paper hat-making.”

“Some of the things just keep going on all day long, like Juli Veee’s finger and brush painting, and the musical petting zoo where children are invited to touch and play musical instruments of every kind. Others are scheduled at least twice during the weekend. We recommend that parents bring the kids both days. They can’t possibly see it all in one day.

“The San Diego Opera Ensemble will give two performances, and they’ll tell how to be an opera singer,” Krieger said. “Some children will get to sing with them too. And we’ll have five or six computers available for computer art. Kids will actually make designs on the computer. And (sculptor) Jim Hubbell will encourage children to create with clay.”

Brenda DeFlanders, the mask-making Kidzartz teacher this weekend, said it would take too long to make a three-dimensional mask. “But we’re using the same creative process in paper. The children can create, design, and take something home with them in an hour,” she said.

As for poetry, performance artist/playwright/poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez will share his love for the literary form in crash courses geared for specific age groups. Sessions at 11:45 a.m. Saturday and Sunday will focus on fifth- and sixth-graders. Seventh- through ninth-graders are invited at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:15 p.m. Sunday.

“Poetry is more alive in the performing genre than in the written word,” Melendez said. “I’m going to show the kids the process from which writing emanates, and get them to think poetically.”

Jean Cornwell, a teacher in the Young at Art Program--and one of at least 10 Kidzartz newcomers this year--will produce giant ecology-based murals with the kids.

American Ballet Ensemble will return with its full-blown staging of “Peter and the Wolf,” narrated in English and Spanish this year. At different times the dancers will perform excerpts from the troupe’s repertory. All performances are slated for Casa Courtyard.

California Ballet’s Junior Company will present ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance in a pair of performances on Saturday (2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the Casa Courtyard). Sunday’s program will offer snippets from the ballet’s regular repertory.

Clogging, flamenco, and traditional Philippine dance styles will also be showcased. And two local teachers, ex-San Diego ballet dancer Susan Wingfield and Three’s Company founder Betzi Roe, will show and tell how to create dances with diverse movement motifs.

Mime Bill Virchis will teach four workshops. “I teach creative movement and mime techniques the kids can use in their illusionary world,” he noted. “I give the students basic improvisations. It takes a lifetime to learn everything about mime, but at least we can open the door. The smallest tool can be the most effective one, if it’s used correctly.”

The San Diego Symphony’s Matthew Garbutt will be back to give conducting lessons, along with the brass section of the symphony, and the 100-member UC San Diego Gospel Choir and the San Diego Comic Opera will participate for the first time.

Funding for the festival is always a problem, and this year is no exception, Krieger said. “We have a $100,000 budget, and we’ve raised about $65,000, so we still have about $35,000 to raise,” she said. “Most of the money comes from the city and private corporate sponsors. We really need more private donors.

“You know, one positive experience can change a child’s life,” Krieger said. “And when they come back every year, maybe one thing sticks. Maybe they’ll start painting at home or learning to play a musical instrument. The arts can make a big difference in a child’s life. I know how much it has enriched mine, and this experience can reach them.”