SUMMERTIME : ART : Exhibiting a Comeback : Budget cuts and quake damage have closed many galleries. But several stimulating displays are in stores at Valley locations.

Despite cuts in the city’s arts budget and galleries forced to close because of damage from the Jan. 17 earthquake, we can still look forward to stimulating summer art exhibits in the San Fernando Valley.

Begin tonight with two opening receptions in Burbank that are a stone’s throw from each other.

On Olive Avenue is the new Mythos Gallery, which bucked the recession-induced trend of Westside gallery closings by opening in May. Mythos will present “A Stillness,” paintings by Barbara Kolo and Elizabeth Ranelagh, and photography by Valerie Gates. The show ends Aug. 6.

Behind Mythos, on Clark Avenue, the Creative Arts Center Gallery will be showing ceramics, jewelry and fiber arts in its exhibit “Art From the Third Dimension.” This show ends July 29. Beginning Aug. 7, the gallery will feature the mixed-media sculpture of Darlene Nguyen Ely.

Mythos Gallery, 1009 W. Olive Ave., Burbank. Open noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. (818) 843-3686.

Creative Arts Center Gallery, 1100 W. Clark Ave., Burbank. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. (818) 953-8763.

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Saturday, consider the state of the art of calligraphy in Sylmar at the opening reception of Century Gallery’s show, “Expanding the Boundaries: The 10th Biennial Exhibit of the Society for Calligraphy.”

The 900-member organization is represented by 35 recent works that define, explore and challenge the calligraphic arts.

The opening reception is from 3 to 6 p.m. in Century Gallery, Veterans Memorial Park, 13000 Sayre St., Sylmar. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, through Aug. 5. (818) 362-3220.

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In the wake of the earthquake, Cal State Northridge has chosen to exhibit a most unusual student art show.

When the campus Fine Arts building, with its three art galleries, was closed after the earthquake, the university set up an art annex in a trailer near the intersection of Nordhoff Street and Etiwanda Avenue. To help heal the wounds of a devastated campus and student body, the call for entries for the annual student art show, usually restricted to art students, was opened to any CSUN student.

All 120 submissions were displayed on campus for one weekend. Viewers were asked to vote for their five favorite pieces. The 30 most popular works are on exhibit until the end of July.

CSUN Art Annex 116, near Nordhoff Street and Etiwanda Avenue, Northridge. Open 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. weekdays through July. (818) 885-2226 or (818) 885-2156.

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In August, the Orlando Gallery in Sherman Oaks will present the “Orlando Gallery Collection, 1960-1989,” the gallery’s own collection of its artists’ paintings, drawings, prints and books. These are “diversified early works by artists prominent today,” said Bob Gino, gallery director.

The “Urban Landscapes” of Candace Mooser Foster and Stephen Olson will be at Orlando through July 1, and the “New Paintings” of Chris Mooradian and Scott Sandusky will show from July 8 through 29.

Orlando Gallery, 14553 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. (818) 789-6012.

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Throughout the summer, the special exhibitions gallery of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park will delve into “The Mask of Zorro: Mexican Americans in Popular Media.” Presented in English and Spanish, the show examines Mexican American stereotypes in fiction, art, theater, advertising, film and television. Film clips, movie posters, scripts, costumes, paintings and other objects depicting images of Mexican Americans are on display.

Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Monday. $7, $5 seniors and students, $3 children 2 to 12. Free parking. (213) 667-2000.

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At the Brand Library Art Galleries, in a cozy park beneath the Verdugo Mountains in Glendale, catch the final days (today, Saturday and Tuesday) of Richard Gerrish’s delightful metal sculpture installation, “The Minstrel Show,” and Christina De Musee’s multimedia works.

Then the Brand will be closed until Aug. 13, when it reopens with Steve Peckman’s photo montages and K. L. M. Wilder’s “The Ragged Edge of Desire II,” in which 100 “Little Black Books” contain 100 men’s answers to four questions Wilder posed to them. Brand Library Art Galleries, 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale. Open 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. (818) 548-2050.