Art has always been a part of...

Art has always been a part of Vista resident Deborah Hultberg’s life. And she believes that the lack of funds is depriving today’s students of the arts, which are an essential part of their development. An artist since childhood, Hultberg volunteers her time and talents to teach after-school art classes at Vista schools. Hultberg, 37, has worked in various media, including pastels and clay sculpture and is the youth education representative for Vista Initiative for the Visual Arts, an organization for art enthusiasts. VIVA is working on a Young People’s Art Festival to promote the artistic accomplishments of youths in April. She grew up in Swartz Creek, Mich., and studied at Michigan State before moving to San Diego in 1972. She married in 1972 and moved to Vista the following year. She is completing her degree in fine arts at San Diego State University. Hultberg was interviewed in the VIVA office by Times staff writer Terry Rather and was photographed by Don Bartletti.

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Concern for my children’s education is what got me into art education. When I was in school, my elementary school teacher had a major influence on me. She was encouraging, and she influenced my interest in art education.

I won my first art award when I was 8 years old, from Trix cereal. The prizes they had were for boys, though.

I have artists on both sides of my family. My mother’s family, originally from Holland, were skilled furniture makers. My grandfather was a designer. My grandmother painted for herself for about 40 years. She had a wonderful quality to her work.

My husband doesn’t have any background in art; his thing is sports. But surprisingly, he has a really good eye. He can tell me if my artwork is good or not good.

Art is important to me, notwithstanding the cultural necessity for it, but because we as humans have profound needs to communicate. Visually is one way we communicate. I also feel children need to develop creative skills.

But, after Proposition 13 passed, one of the first things to go was art. Then they had to depend on a classroom schoolteacher to teach art, and it was tough on those teachers to teach art without a background in it. When my son started school, I got involved in school improving art. I volunteered in each of my children’s classes.

For any person to be successful in any endeavor, he must feel confident in his own thoughts, feelings and points of view. Art fosters self-esteem and opens him up to the myriad of possibilities when confronted with choices.

For instance, they learn not everything is black or white or right or wrong. In art, they learn to see the gray areas and optional choices so they can learn to choose the best choice for them. Then they are able to better meet life’s challenges.

When we moved to another Vista school district in 1988, the PTA there encouraged me to develop an after-school program. That was the same year that Cynthia Moore founded VIVA. I was a charter member of VIVA.

Right now, VIVA is still an adult group. The Young People’s Art Festival is one way we can connect with the children. Since the festival is our first one, we limited this one to just visual art. We’re recruiting schools, PTA and youth organizations for the festival.

The after-school program has grown from one school to six schools now. I go from school to school and spend two one-month sessions at each school.

It’s basically for first through fifth grades. The classes are two hours long and broken down into three major components. We look at fine art prints by master artists, focus on a particular aspect of art each week, have short discussion relating ideas. The kids will have a corresponding art activity relating to what we talked about that week. We talk about where artists get ideas from, we emphasize creativity and originality.

Another class period we may focus on one element of design. We’ll talk about harmony and variety for balance. And we talk about art as form of communication.

Humans have needs to share and communicate ideas. We also need to develop that creative potential in each person, and that is a component of a successful life. And art is a good mode to develop creativity.