‘Multiple’ Offers a Look at Kids’ Self-Expression

How do children view their world? For an intriguing look, catch the new, free photo exhibition “Multiple Exposures,” Sept. 12 through Nov. 9 at the Community Focus Gallery at Santa Monica Place.

The exhibition is the culmination of nonprofit Venice Arts Mecca’s almost yearlong project that brought a diverse group of 30 children, ages 9 to 17, from Pasadena, Venice and Los Angeles together with professional photographer-mentors to create a “visual dialogue,” said Lynn Warshafsky, board president.

“[So many] children have no opportunity for involvement in the arts or for creative self-expression,” she said, “and we feel that’s critical in the development of any human being. We also found that because photography is a technical art, it required the kids to learn how to be focused and self-disciplined. The challenge was for them to be able to be expressive with something that doesn’t provide immediate gratification.”

The young students were taught photography aesthetics, how to use 35mm cameras and how to process film and make prints. They received a critique from photographer Willy Middlebrook and input from Kathryn Ware, a Getty Museum assistant curator.

The quality of the kids’ work was a surprise, Warshafsky said.

“The images are very, very strong. There were more abstract images and more interest in texture, light and shadow than we expected--it was interesting to see how they naturally developed an eye for those things. But it was a real mix, with intimate portraits, an expression of feelings for community and neighborhood, cityscapes, wildlife and abstractions.”

The Sept. 12 opening features an artists’ reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The Venice Youth Jazz Ensemble will perform.

Information: (310) 394-5451.

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Get Creative: For artistic togetherness, families can check out the latest “Sunday Open Sunday” series of free family arts workshops, sponsored by the Friends of the Junior Arts Center at different sites around Los Angeles. The series kicks off on Sunday with “City of Soul,” a percussion music workshop with Global Pacific Recording artists Bruce Burger and Cassio Duarte, at the Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Art Park. Each workshop runs from 2 to 4 p.m.

Also on Sunday is “Urban Folk Dolls,” where you’ll turn found objects into dolls with an urban flavor. Artist David Orozco leads the class at the Estrada Courts Community Center. It’ll be taught in Spanish and English.

The rest of the series includes “Naturalistic Collage” (Sept. 15) with artist Michael Massenberg at the Watts Tower Arts Center; “Earth Art” (Sept. 22) with artist Joe Grant at Rose Hills Court Social Center; “Musical Transition” (Sept. 29) with musician-artist Enzo Fina at Farmers Market’s second floor Art Gallery; and “Frames of Nature” (also Sept. 29) with architect-artist Corinna Cotsen at the Barrington Recreation Center. Friends of the Junior Arts Center is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Information: (213) 485-4474.

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Paint for Peace: The “Kids for Peace” mural project returns to the Southland, Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles Central Public Library downtown and Oct. 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in collaboration with the YWCA Week Without Violence.

“Kids for Peace,” led by Gayle Gale, project director at the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, gives children and families the opportunity to celebrate peace and to express their feelings about terrorism and violence by painting small wooden tiles, which will become part of a “patchwork quilt” design that will be exhibited in the United States and Israel. A final mural made up of 1,000 panels will be permanently housed in Israel.

Information: (213) 658-5824 or (213) 874-3887.