A Piece of Parts

An army of robots soon will spring from the collection of tin cans that artist Camille Sanchez has hoarded for the past year. Protractors will transform into arms, and old, hardened watercolor pieces have a good chance of serving as eyeballs. The rest of their bodies will be filled out by whatever else she comes up with--old office supplies, clothespins, straws--and any scraps her young students might bring in.

Her “Trashy Robots” class, with its emphasis on using recycled materials in art, will take place Sunday at the Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Art Park. It is one of the last five Sunday Open Sunday series of free family workshops this season, which runs through the end of March. A celebration will be held April 20 to mark the completion of this year’s 40-session season.

“When I took over the program in 1993, I wanted to expand it so it went outside the center. The idea is to do outreach to the whole community of Los Angeles,” said Gayle Gale, director of the 15-year-old Sunday Open Sunday program. Classes now span about 12 locations from the Westside to San Pedro.

The workshops also are taught by professionals. “I’ve gone and gotten a bunch of well-known artists. They are all top-quality, professional artists who like to serve the role of mentor in their community,” Gale said. “One thing I think is really great about this program is when the parents get so involved. It’s a different way of relating to your child. Something magical happens.”

Parents looking for somewhere to go with their infants show up along with children who might have come with an older cousin or grandparent. There is no limit to the number of children an adult may bring to the drop-in classes. Anywhere from 50 to 125 people, counting grown-ups, attend each event, many of which have focused on cost-effective projects that use recycled objects. The program, which cost about $18,000 to administer this past year, is sponsored by the Friends of the Junior Arts Center in conjunction with the City of L.A. Cultural Affairs Department.

Some participants follow the workshops from site to site, while others have worked with an artist before and notice that artist is coming back, said Harriet Miller, director of the Junior Arts Center.

“It’s quite wonderful to see different families interacting with one another,” Miller said. “Usually it’s with great pride and lots of sticky glue they leave the workshop carrying something home they’ve made. And that’s what it’s all about.”

Here’s the lineup of the rest of this season’s Sunday Open Sunday series:

Sunday: “Trashy Robots,” with artist Camille Sanchez, will use recycled items for artworks. Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles.

March 9: “Art Aware/Wear” with silversmith Eva P. Nathanson will show families how to make fine art out of found objects from home or nature. Barrington Recreation Center, 333 S. Barrington Ave., West Los Angeles.

March 16: “Folklore Art” features environmental artist Pauline Cezares, who will combine the concept of found art with Mexican folklore in a mixed-media project. William Mead Homes, 1300 N. Cardinal St., Los Angeles.

March 23: Make “Magic Eggs” with artist Charles Sherman, who uses eggs in his sculptures. Farmers Market, Art Gallery, second floor, 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles.

April 20: An end-of-season celebration will feature family workshops, entertainment and refreshments at the Junior Arts Center, Barnsdall Arts Park.

BE THERE

Sunday Open Sunday art workshops are from 2 to 4 p.m. Classes are free and no reservations are necessary. Call (213) 485-4474.