Skid Row Art Reflects Despair, Alienation : * Exhibit: Only one artist is present at college showing of works created during weekly workshops offered by the Homeless Outreach Program.

There were paintings, a spread of cheese and crackers and a small group of people discussing the merit of the artworks. But missing from the opening of the “Art From Skid Row” exhibition at Los Angeles City College last week were, save one, the artists themselves.

One was in jail. One is mentally ill, and organizers thought his presence would be disruptive. Several, organizers said, were out spending recently received general relief checks on alcohol and drugs.

That’s just the way it goes with people from Skid Row, said Mike Neely, coordinator of the Homeless Outreach Program, which offers the weekly art workshops where the works in the exhibition were created.

“The art just isn’t a priority for them,” he said.

Stan Nelson, a longtime Skid Row resident, was the only artist on hand for last week’s opening at the college’s Da Vinci Gallery. Clad in a red tartan jacket, he nervously offered explanations of his paintings and beamed as he accepted praise from visitors.

But whether or not all the artists were present, their talent was evident. Many of the 30 or so paintings, prints and sketches successfully evoked the feelings of despair and alienation that haunt their creators.

The art workshops take place every Thursday afternoon at the outreach center’s offices in downtown Los Angeles. They are sponsored through private donations, and participants are given all the supplies they need.

To sculptor Jacqueline Dreager, who has led the weekly workshops for more than a year, the pieces created there are “pure art,” developed without any thought of trends or marketability.

“It’s from the heart,” she said. “They’re not trying to please an audience. They don’t have anyone pushing them into a corner. They are just getting it out.”

But Dreager, who lives in Highland Park, said she has often been frustrated by watching promising artists come to the sessions a few times, then drift away. About six people participate regularly, and four or five more drop in and out, she said.

“Someone can come in and show tremendous talent one week, and then I never see them again,” the sculptor said. “I can’t let it get me down.”

Dreager said she organized the exhibition at LACC--which will continue until Feb. 13--to give the artists exposure and a sense of accomplishment, “which, in turn, elevates their self-esteem.” She acknowledged that she was disappointed that only Nelson could attend the opening.

But for Nelson, a former drug and alcohol abuser who has not held a job in more than 20 years, the opening reception was a moment to remember as he soaked up the compliments of art teachers from the college.

Art, he said, is an obsession for him. In addition to the weekly workshop at the Homeless Outreach Program, he has taken numerous art classes at LACC. He practices his figure sketching every day, and carries a sketchbook wherever he goes.

His paintings on display include an impressionistic self-portrait and a picture of his hotel room that is reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “Room at Arles.” Both works, experts and visitors agreed, convey a powerful sense of pathos and reflect a mastery of technique.

“There’s an incredible freshness and control to it,” gallery director John Rand said of Nelson’s work. “He really does have a good touch.

“I become very tired of artists reiterating ideas and concepts which are overly familiar to me,” Rand added. “The works here are very raw. These people are not worrying about a lot of the things that many artists are worrying about, like how will I fit into this trend.”

But Nelson said he has both artistic and personal goals for his work.

Someday, the artist said, he would like to “bridge the gap between realism and what you would call modernism” so that people on the streets, who have little artistic training, can appreciate art that leans toward the abstract.

“I also fantasize about making money,” he said. “But I’m 48 years old, and that hasn’t happened yet.”