PARENTING : New Doors Open to the Arts : With cutbacks in school programs, parents learn they must find cultural activities for their kids. But there’s a wealth of programs to choose from.

Last month in England, the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts hung an abstract watercolor in its annual show, unaware that it had been painted by a 4-year-old girl. Her mother submitted it to the show’s judges as a joke.

Whatever the mother’s attitude (did anyone make fun of Salzburg University for providing a 5-year-old Mozart with his first public appearance?), that girl was fortunate to have been given such an early opportunity to make art and express herself.

Today in the Los Angeles area, we can no longer depend on our schools to furnish children with the chance to draw, paint, dance or learn to play a musical instrument. Forced to make big budget cuts in recent years, sacrifices by school boards on the altar of the bottom line include instruction in the arts and field trips to concert halls, theaters and museums.

But luckily, all is not lost. Many of Los Angeles’ art venues offer excellent no-cost or low-cost educational programs and special activities for children to undertake alone or with their families.

Some of these institutions also organize arts programs through the schools. Unlike the old days, when schools planned and paid for special performances and field trips, today it is often up to parents to find out what programs are available, coordinate the school’s involvement and pay the price.

For those parents willing to be enterprising and resourceful, there are still many fine opportunities to introduce children to the magic of the arts.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, a resident company of the Music Center downtown, presents a variety of programs designed to acquaint children with the symphony.

“Symphonies for Youth,” for kids ages 6 to 12 and their parents, will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on four Saturday mornings this spring: April 3, April 24, May 22 and May 29. Featuring such themes as music around the world and musical heroes and villains, concerts are preceded by activities and demonstrations that help illustrate the day’s musical topic. The April 24 concert offers a special treat: Philharmonic Music Director Esa Pekka Salonen will introduce and conduct Stravinsky’s music for the ballet “Petrouchka.” Tickets are $7.50 and $5. On that same day, conductor Salonen will also acquaint children ages 3 to 5 and their parents with the world of the symphony orchestra as part of the Philharmonic’s “Open House at the Music Center” series. All tickets are $3. For information on both series, call (213) 850-2000.

This summer, the Philharmonic Assn., in conjunction with the Friends of the Hollywood Bowl, will present “Open House at the Hollywood Bowl,” a six-week festival of music, dance and theater performances accompanied by arts and crafts workshops for children ages 3 to 12. For information, call (213) 850-2000.

The Philharmonic and the Music Center’s other resident companies--Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Music Center Opera and Center Theatre Group--each has youth programs that they coordinate through Los Angeles area schools. For information on these programs and how to get your child’s school involved in them, call: the Philharmonic, (213) 972-0703; master chorale, (310) 373-4072; opera, (213) 972-7219; Center Theatre Group, (213) 972-0720.

The Center Theatre Group will also conduct a theater training program for students ages 14 to 18 that runs from the end of June to August. Information and applications, which are due April 20, may be obtained by calling (213) 972-7654, ext. 9604

Beyond these events, the Music Center has an education division devoted primarily to bringing dance, drama, music and visual arts programs to the schools. Companies such as Ballet Folclorico do Brasil, Little Theatre of the Deaf, and the Aman Folk Orchestra visit schools to perform and conduct workshops that give kids firsthand experience with the performing arts. Under the same program, groups of students can also create their own individually designed arts activities and work closely with a professional artist in an artist-in-residence partnership.

Joan Boyett, the Music Center’s vice president for education, says these offerings, for which schools must pay a fee, are often brought to the attention of the schools by parents.

“So much of the money for our programs comes from parents and PTAs,” Boyett said. “I credit them with saving the arts from totally disappearing from the schools.”

For a brochure on the Education Division’s programs, call (213) 972-7285.

Offerings in the visual arts are available through the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which encourages children to explore their creative imaginations in hands-on classes offered in five-week sessions on Saturdays or Sundays. Courses use the museum’s permanent collections and special exhibitions “to teach, but not to limit” children, said Lisa Waters, the art classes registrar. Classes take place right in the galleries.

New sessions begin on April 3 and 4. For children ages 3 1/2 to 5 and their parents, “Silver and Gold” takes a look at the imaginary creatures in Italian micro-mosaics and uses the Gilbert Collection as inspiration for hands-on activities. “Looking into Ourselves,” for children ages 6 to 8, examines American art of the past and present. For children ages 9 to 11, “Mythmaking and Storytelling” focuses on the art, culture and myths of ancient civilizations.

Fees range from $59 for children-only classes to $77 for one parent and one child for the classes offered to the youngest children ($33 for each additional family member). Museum members receive discounts. Full and partial scholarships are available.

From June through September, the museum will also present “Sundays in the Museum,” a program of art, music, dance, theater and storytelling from diverse cultures for children ages 5 through 12 and their parents. Taking place on the last Sunday of each month, these events are free to museum members, and are included in the price of admission to the museum.

For more information on these programs and school tours to the museum, call Lisa Waters at (213) 857-6139.

The Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Park in Hollywood offers an array of classes taught by professional artists to young people ages 3 to 18 after school on weekdays and on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to painting, drawing, sculpture and photography, the center has filmmaking and animation classes, acting classes and some music classes. Fees for an eight-week session range from $18 to $36. Registration for the spring session begins April 12.

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The center is also the repository of the International Child Art Collection--3,000 works by young people from 45 countries. Portions of the collection are available on a loan basis to schools and community centers. For more information on the loan program, and for class schedules, call (213) 485-4474.

At the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, located in Griffith Park next to the zoo, programs provide children with an opportunity to experience traditions of other cultures. They also address what is real and what is make-believe in movies about the Old West.

Parents can join their children in the museum’s Saturday workshops. Held the first Saturday of every month, they are free with paid museum admission. The April 3 workshop will introduce participants to the game of bocce ball on the south lawn. This event precedes the April 11 opening of the exhibit, “Old Ties, New Attachments: Italian-American Folklife in the West” at the museum.

The May 1 workshop will celebrate Cinco de Mayo with instruction in how to create Mexican paper flowers.

The Autry also offers two-hour Saturday classes for children that add another dimension to the museum’s current exhibit. Costs range from $15 to $20. As with all the Autry’s classes, museum members receive discounts.

During June and July, two weeklong classes will be taught. Children can learn about “Indians and Mountain Men” through artifacts in the galleries, special guests and hands-on projects. Fee: $65. “Discover the West” will take in the traditions of peoples from pre-Columbian times to the present. Fee: $55. Scholarships for summer classes are available; call (213) 667-2000, ext. 226. For information about classes, call ext. 336.

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In conjunction with the Autry museum, the Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary’s College--dedicated to returning chamber music to elegant and intimate environments--will present a children’s concert in the museum on April 17 featuring the Armadillo String Quartet. Storytelling, puppets, party favors and treats and admission to the museum are all part of the day. For ticket information on this concert, and one at Pacific Asia Museum on May 15, call (213) 747-9085.

Parents who want to introduce children to classical art and classical tales can take them to the Getty Museum in Malibu, which has a free weekly storytelling program suitable for all ages on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Additionally, the museum has free weekend programs designed for adults and children ages 6 to 12 that include gallery games and discussions of works of art in the museum’s collection. In April and May, programs will look at life in ancient Rome in “When in Rome” and will explore long-ago heroes and monsters in “Mythical Monsters and Courageous Heroes.”

The Getty offers a Spanish-language version of those programs on a regular basis. For reservations and information in Spanish, call (310) 458-1104. In English, call (310) 458-2003.

For those who want to engage elementary and secondary school children in the swirl of contemporary art, the Museum of Contemporary Art has developed a yearlong education program for students and teachers called “Contemporary Art Start.” It includes a curriculum guide/teaching manual, comprehensive workshops for teachers, guided tours of MOCA exhibitions and family involvement opportunities. For more information on the program, call (213) 621-1751.