Exhibiting Pride and Joy : Santa Ana Art Program Gives Kids a Chance to Show What They Can Do

“It’s important for you to realize that you are all artists,” the lady from the museum is saying.

This is unnecessary.

The artists are sitting on the floor of the Newport Harbor Art Museum, most of them wearing their authentic artist T-shirts, more than a few squirming, with a few whispers here and there.

Understand that the artists haven’t had recess today. And the bus was late.

Most of the artists had been to the museum a few days earlier, with their parents and hundreds of others in grown-up attire, when the show opened. Make that their show opened. This is still a little hard to believe. Here! This is pretty neat.

“ Poquito suave ,” says Osvaldo Vargas, 11. This means kind of cool.

“I feel excited because I’ve never done this,” says Juan Tobias, who is 8.

“Major Art/Minor Artists VII” is what the show is called. Major art. That means big time, good , stuff that stirs you up inside. It does. The artists are minor only in their age. They are third-, fourth- and fifth-graders from Santa Ana, part of the public school district’s Special Studio program.

All kids should be so lucky as to take part in a program such as this.

“You know, when I walked in and saw all this on the wall, I thought, ‘How would our world be different if every kid had this instruction from kindergarten on?’ ” says Helen Seigel, one of three working artists who run the program for the district.

“When you hear talk about critical thinking skills, there it is, right there on the wall.”

There is more here too. It is a feeling that washes over you, leaving you with hope and a smile to take home.

“It makes me feel proud for people to see our work,” says Brian Kwan, 9.

David Mejia, 10, explains his creation, an abstract portrait of his “kind of” best friend, Alex Ramirez, also 10. Alex’s portrait of David hangs next to his own.

“I was imagining what these pretty diamonds looked like,” David says, pointing to his work pressed under glass. “My father, when he came, he took a good look at my picture. He liked it a lot. My father likes to draw too, but he never had anything in a museum. This made him really happy.”

Rafael Ramos, 10, says, “I never thought that I’d be an artist.” Rafael says he feel great. He also likes math.

The opening of the show, which runs through Sunday, was a pretty big deal. Dignitaries spoke, parents hugged their children and their art teachers. Eyes were moist. More than one art patron demanded, “I must have that piece!” (Sorry, so far none is for sale).

“Exhibited here is but a hint of what you are capable of achieving,” Helen told the kids. “Please take what you learn through the study of art and the experience of art-making and apply it to the rest of your life. You have a contribution to make to our world . We want to see your visions. We want to hear your voices.”

This is the seventh year of Special Studio, part of the Artists in the Schools program, which is in its 13th year. The children learn from the masters--imitating Van Gogh, Matisse, Leger, Picasso--and from themselves and those around them.

Now they are admiring figures made by other Special Studio artists that were inspired by ancient Mayan spirits, part animal and part human, with several twists.

“What on them?” Helen asks the kids.

“Shells!” someone says.

“Tempra paint!” somebody else adds.

“Papier-mache!” comes a voice.

“Macaroni!”

“Not cheese !” Helen says. The artists giggle. The teacher laughs.

Later, Helen explains another way that art unites. She shared the same artistic idea with her elementary school students and then with the adults she teaches at Saddleback Valley College. The adults, when shown the children’s drawings, asked to work on their own creations some more.

“The kids came up with much more unusual ways of dividing up the space,” Helen says.

There is a quote from Picasso accompanying a group of the children’s artwork that hangs on the museum wall.

“It took me 10 years to learn to draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like a child,” it says.

Still, despite the support of the Santa Ana school district, funding for Special Studio has been cut. It used to be that all elementary schools in the district got a chance to participate.

This year, there were only five--including one, Washington, that paid for artist Kim Burke on its own. Helen Seigel and Joycelyn Dixon, at the four other schools, operate on a district budget of about $40,000.

Last year, the amount was double that. Prospects for next year are uncertain.

As it is, the students--chosen from all academic levels for their potential artistic achievement--get only one shot at the program. There is hope that the really bright stars will continue on their own. But you never know. There is no money for follow-up.

The kids at Newport Harbor Art Museum are getting ready to go back to school now. They have admired the artwork, speculated on what it took to create this and that, dreamed of their next creation at school.

Alex Ramirez, pocket camera in hand, snapped lots photographs. He says he will hang them in his room at home.

“I belong in the newspaper,” George Cervantes, 11, tells me just before I leave. “Because I am an artist now!”

All the kids smile at that. There is a lightning bolt of recognition. It is ditto all around.

Dianne Klein’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Readers may reach Klein by writing to her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7406.