VENTURA : Arts Festival for Children Is Planned

Children are invited to carve soapstone, build kites, make paper flowers and create paper cuttings during a two-day arts festival put on by Ventura municipal leaders and the school district.

The Children’s International Arts Festival was conceived as a way to link students in the Ventura Unified School District with community artists, organizer Gwendolyn Alley said.

During the past few months, artists have visited Ventura classrooms to teach students various art forms, from Japanese origami to Native American sand painting, Alley said.

The program culminates with the two-day festival. On Friday, student artwork will be displayed at an exhibit at Ventura Harbor.

A public reception for student artists contributing to the exhibit will begin at 5:30 p.m., Alley said. That will be followed at 7 p.m. by a free concert featuring Afro-Cuban music on the grassy lawn south of the Ventura Yacht Club.

On Saturday, children can attend free arts workshops during daylong activities at Mission Park in downtown Ventura. Community artists will conduct 16 different workshops, teaching children everything from carving soapstone to creating stylish paper cuttings, a folk-art tradition in Poland, Alley said. Greek dancers and strolling actors performing bits of Shakespeare will be part of the activities, which will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m.