THE ART HOUSE

Ask Cherene Raphael why she started an art school for kids, and you get an earful.

“It’s sad. Our schools always place a value on kids who are good at math or spelling, but there’s no value placed on kids who are creative. I have found a lot of children who were less academic than they were creative, and they were getting no support, no appreciation. It ruins their self-esteem. The kids figure if they’re a failure in math, they’re a failure in life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that story.”

Cherene has firsthand experience. Her oldest daughter, Jamie, was a victim of a school system that rewarded empirical skills, and ignored creative talents. But Cherene, a successful artist who has had showings at galleries in La Habra, San Bernardino, San Diego and Santa Monica, Cal State Fullerton, and the Long Beach Museum of Art, fought back.

At first she volunteered part time as an art teacher in the Fullerton schools. Later she went back to school and obtained a teaching credential in art education and a master’s degree. In 1987 she started The Art House with husband John. While she teaches drawing and painting to children in grades kindergarten through 12, he runs the office.

“We wanted to give kids who are gifted artistically a chance to express themselves. We are interested in rewarding their visual gifts,” John said.

Parents and their budding prodigy seem to like the idea. A month after The Art House opened, it was in the black--the perfect color for mixing business with art. And it has been doing blockbuster business ever since. The school consistently has a roster of 300 to 400.

Classes are one-hour long, run year-round, and students can start and stop at any time: “There are a lot of conflicts in a child’s schedule--soccer season, baseball season,” John acknowledges. The cost is $28 for four weeks. Materials such as paper, boards, canvases, nontoxic paints, and brushes are provided by the school.

The classroom is designed to inspire. Walls are decorated with posters of the works of some of the great masters--Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir. Eager students hang attentively on Cherene’s every word. “She’s is a very gifted teacher,” says John. “My approach is to teach the fundamentals. Art is a lot like music--first you have to learn your drills, and then you get creative from there. These children are eager to learn. It’s exciting to see them develop and realize that art is not just a matter of slinging paint on paper,” said Cherene.

“One thing I stress is that a work must be completed. I want (students) to go through the process of developing the idea, and finishing it. That’s a skill you can take into any field.”

Finished works of art are displayed in the school’s small gallery. Some are so detailed, and the ideas so well conceived and executed, it’s hard to remember the artists are still children.

“I am convinced that artistic children need to have their talents applauded. They should not be ignored; that gift is just as important as a gift in math or science.”