NORTHRIDGE : Children’s Art to Be Shown at CSUN

The Art Gallery at Cal State Northridge will kick off a five-week exhibit of children’s art Sunday as part of a national competition for elementary school students.

The 80 drawings in the exhibit--including 16 by Los Angeles-area schoolchildren--were chosen from hundreds of entries throughout the western United States and Canada. The competition, which was judged by a group of art educators at Eastern Montana College, was shown in Montana before arriving at CSUN. It will travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, in January for its final stop.

In order to make the exhibit accessible to children, the drawings are hung at the approximate eye-level of the children that drew them.

“No child will have to strain,” said Edie Pistolesi, one of the show’s organizers who is an assistant professor of art at CSUN.

Also, there will be children’s chairs so adults can view the drawings from the artists’ point of view.

“The whole show changes when you view it as a child would,” Pistolesi said.

All of the drawings are based on the broad theme of time travel, and many of the children used the concept to draw images of their concerns or hopes for the future. “Any misconception people have about children’s work being simple would end with this show,” Pistolesi said. “Kids have very complex ideas that they might not express verbally but will draw.”

The opening event will be from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Art Gallery at CSUN and the exhibit, sponsored by Crayola Products, will run through Jan. 14.