Youth Arts Alive isn’t marketed as a summer camp, but it meets similar standards for families looking for one. Kids could be entertained in classes with professional artists from 10 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. four days a week.
Alternatively, some kids want to only take guitar lessons or crafting workshops, the nonprofit’s founder Gale McNeeley explained. Youth Arts Alive supports the community in as many ways as it can, offering five weeks of programming for kids 8 to 18 years old.
“We have had whole families come to our program and spend the whole summer with us,” the founding director told the Sun.
Celebrating one whole decade
For more information about Youth Arts Alive, go to youthartsalive.org and follow on Instagram @youth_arts_alive. Catch the group’s final performance on July 17 at 6 p.m. at the Pioneer Valley High School Performing Arts Center.
See artwork by Nagham Naim on Instagram @nagham_naim.
In its 10th year, Youth Arts Alive is bringing new opportunities for around 300 Santa Maria students. As far as McNeeley knows, the nonprofit is the only group serving free art instruction when school lets out. This summer is the first time that the organization is offering programs at the Maramonte Community Center, serving neighborhoods near the border between Orcutt and Santa Maria.
McNeeley said Maramonte registration has been as successful or more when compared to the other two centers.
“This is a new site for us, and we’re excited to be reaching new kids,” McNeeley said. “It seems to me that people have been waiting for free arts education in that area, and we’ve reached out to the local grade schools and junior high schools to make sure that they know these new classes are there for them.”
This year around 30 teachers and interns are also offering lessons at the Minami and Grogan community centers. Most lessons run for 50 minutes except for ballet folklórico, which is an hour and a half long to give dancers breaks in between routines.
Courses started on June 15 and run until July 16, culminating with a performing arts celebration on July 17. For the first few sessions, registration remains open on-site if there are open spots, McNeeley said.
Participating students have access to music, ceramics, theater, and visual art lessons. With credentials as a professional clown, McNeeley is teaching a class at Grogan that he called circus theater games. The founder hasn’t taught since the group’s first summer.
“I have a golden retriever dog that has a big mane, and I thought he could play a lion in the circus,” McNeeley said. “They’re going to learn to juggle and a little bit of acrobatics. Anyone who wants to be a red-nosed clown will be a red-nosed clown.”
Over at the Maramonte Community Center to the south, a new teacher will be instructing visual arts twice a week. McNeeley met artist Nagham Naim through a mutual friend and knew she’d be a great fit for Youth Arts Alive. He’s happy to have her on board this summer while she has time on her hands. McNeeley predicted that soon enough, colleges will be hiring her to teach.
Naim came from a family of artists in Syria and moved to Santa Maria two years ago. In Syria she studied fine arts at Damascus University and went on to teach classes, too.
“Her human experience gives her a much wider mind, the broader mind of the world,” McNeeley said. “I think the kids meeting a person from another country, another continent, I think that’s very mind opening. … It’s great for our students to experience another culture that’s so far away and so different than theirs.”
On top of Naim’s lived experiences, she’s also a parent and understands how to connect with kids. McNeeley said she’ll be a great teacher for Youth Arts Alive.
Her introductory course in Santa Maria will be exploring self-expression with students. They’ll make their own portraits and collages. Naim looks forward to watching the kids progress week by week and express feelings through their creativity.
“Kids surprise you all the time,” Naim said.
Then her cohort will work its way through other instruction like playing with recycled materials and making abstracts. The artist said she wants the kids to feel free.
One day they’ll do “flow art.” The style asks artists to mix colors together and use their imagination to identify shapes. Naim has explored the concept with her young twins, too.
Outside of teaching, Naim enjoys working in her home studio. She practices sculpture and painting, channeling all emotions into her work. When McNeeley first saw her portfolio, he said each piece brought up a different emotion for him.
Her inspiration comes from the Impressionist movement, and the painter often uses body language, colors, and textures to highlight various psychological states of humanity. Naim said art is her way of communicating with the world.
Since she was a child, she’s been fascinated with drawing people. The artist has a strong visual memory and often draws people she meets on the street or in a café.
The hardest part is drawing their eyes.
“Everyone has a different look,” Naim said.
Naim’s studio is filled with paintings that express raw human emotion. The past few years have been tumultuous for her, leaving Syria and starting a new life in California. Now that she’s starting to settle in, the painter has begun using bright colors and exploring more light-hearted themes.
One thing has stayed constant throughout her entire journey: losing herself in the paint.
“It’s like I forget the time,” Naim said.
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in June 18 – June 25, 2026.
