There is no better time to create than right now. Even if an artist has no experience in a certain media, she has to start somewhere. The Santa Maria Arts Council has spent decades fostering local art, especially in youth and education. The organization’s annual student art show displays the visual art of students who have years of education and practice, and even students who never before thought to set pen to paper.
“There is a drawing of a little girl with big eyes holding her fingers up to her mouth, and it’s just an incredible graphite work of art,” said council president Craig Shafer. “I was talking to the teacher who said it was the student’s first attempt at drawing, and I almost fell to the floor.”
Shafer has been pleasantly surprised by many a piece in the student art show, which includes painting, drawing, 3-D artwork, photography, and design. The art is accepted from teachers in local junior high and high schools, as well as charter schools and home-schooling programs.
“The arts council started this program in 1980—that was when the arts suffered a really big budget crunch,” Shafer said. “They thought if [the council] could put a public art show up and encourage the teachers to keep arts alive and in their curriculum, they would do a great service to their students.”
The show is something many students work toward throughout the school year. Each teacher is allowed to submit a certain number of selections, so the best of each teacher’s students must be selected.
“I wish it could be more inclusive and bigger,” Shafer said, “but I’m not complaining about the venue; the Shepard Hall is beautiful and was built to be an art gallery with great lighting and ambiance.”
Community members can view the student art show at the Santa Maria Public Library’s Shepard Hall during regular library hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Saturday. An awards ceremony and artists’ reception is March 26 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the hall.
“When you see the students who come in, showing their parents and friends their work, you know that pride may be the first time they have felt that sense of accomplishment,” Shafer said. “What a golden opportunity for a young person to have the community, friends, and family revel and respond.”
The arts council bestows to the students first- through third-place awards in each category of art, and a “Best in Show” distinction. The ribbon winners also get a cash award, funded by arts raffles organized by the council.
“The process of having an idea and seeing it come to fruition is essential and significant in a child’s development,” Shafer said. “The magnitude of that process—discovery, learning, and experimenting—is the reason the arts council advocates for arts in education, and why our volunteers work so hard to put on this show.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne also advocates for arts in education. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 13-20, 2014.