ART : A Feast for the Eyes : Summer gallery exhibits offer everything from landscapes to displays of miniature historic landmarks.

Summer is the time to escape to the beach, stretch out on the sand and get lost in a good book. But San Fernando Valley inhabitants can also find respite from the daily grind by visiting area art galleries.

Although college and university art exhibition programs take a hiatus during the summer, other public and private spaces are featuring a variety of shows. Artwork will take viewers to different parts of the globe as well as on journeys of the mind, body and spirit.

In a pleasant park in the foothills of Glendale, the Brand Library Art Galleries present the mystery-filled work of two Southern California artists, TU-2 and David E. Doherty. Doherty’s charcoal drawings depict lissome, rather Gothic views of everything from a lily pond and a toy store to memories of P.O.P., the late great amusement park, Pacific Ocean Park.

Taiwan-born TU-2’s large, diverse portrait paintings of Mao Tse-tung, from the series “Mao-ology from 0 to 2,” ring the main gallery. Visions of the former Chinese leader range from “Mickey Mao” to “Tienemen Square Mao”--complete with TV screen and army troops--and “Chop Mao,” made with a Chinese chop on rice paper. The show ends July 1.

The Brand art galleries will close during July and reopen Aug. 5 with Anton Arkihipov’s iconic figurative paintings and Ilana Bloch’s acrylic and collage landscapes and outdoor scenes. That show closes Sept. 12.

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) 548-2051. One can also travel via art at the Orlando Gallery in Sherman Oaks, where Gene Gill’s historical landmark miniatures are on view through July 5. Viewers go from St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow and the Charles Bridge Tower in Prague to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. After this show, from July 7 through Aug. 4, Orlando offers the spiritual artwork of Terry Yarbrow and Tina Atkins, and from Aug. 11 through Sept. 1, photography and computer-generated work by Arthur Drooker.

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

Internal explorations illuminate Wendy Sussman’s recent oil paintings, on view beginning Sunday at the University of Judaism’s Platt Gallery. The artist will give a talk to gallery visitors that day t 3:30 p.m. In these works, done in response to her parents’ deaths, Sussman reflects upon her life and the lives of her family. The show continues through Aug. 23.

University of Judaism’s Platt Gallery, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel - Air. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 276.

Mythos gallery in Burbank considers mind, heart and body in its current show, “Bodies in Motion.” Paintings and drawings by Shanna Galloway and photographs by Michael Philip Manheim capture the dynamics of the human form in action. The show ends July 15.

Mythos, 1009 W. Olive Ave., Burbank. Open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. (818) 843-3686.

Near Mythos, in George Izay Park, the Creative Arts Center Municipal Gallery will open an exhibit of work by seven local photographers on July 7, with a reception at 7 p.m. The show continues through July 27.

During Aug. 4-24, the center presents mixed-media paintings by Tim Taylor, who paints with his toes.

Creative Arts Center Gallery, 1100 W. Clark Ave., Burbank. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. (818) 953-8763.

“7 UP,” a show of work by seven Los Angeles-area artists at Artspace Gallery in Woodland Hills, continues through July 1. During July 5-22, paintings by Warren Burd go on view, followed by Leonard Bermudez’s metal works in August.

Artspace, 21800 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills. Open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. (818) 716-2786.

The work of “New Printmakers,” a juried show of diverse prints by Southern California college and university students, sponsored by the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, remains on view at Lankershim Arts Center through July 14. Beginning Aug. 20, the printmaking society will present a members show titled “Magical Visions.” The show closes Oct. 15.

Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Open 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. (818) 557-5760.

In Veterans Memorial Park in Sylmar, Century Gallery’s “Open Juried Competition ‘95,” a show of 38 works by Southern California artists selected by juror Etan Boritzer, runs through July 28. The competition’s two prize winners, Selma Moskowitz and Penny Olson, were awarded tandem solo shows at Century Gallery. Those shows begin Aug. 27 and continue through Sept. 29. Century Gallery, Veterans Memorial Park, 13000 Sayre St., Sylmar. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. (818) 362-3220.

Topanga Canyon Gallery, formerly New Canyon Gallery, on June 30 opens its first juried show to include non-members of the co-op gallery with a display of painting, drawing, prints, watercolors, mixed media and sculpture by 20 artists. The show, titled “New Horizons: Dimensions in Contemporary Landscape,” ends July 23.

From July 28 to Aug. 27, the gallery will present sculpture by David Richter and painting by Marianne Leder.

Topanga Canyon Gallery, 129 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Call (310) 455-3923 for gallery hours.