Kids link with Southeast Asia through art Kids link with Southeast Asia through art (February 02, 2005)

Though it's opening here in Menlo Park, a children's art exhibition called "Festivals, Rituals and Ceremonies: Exploring Culture" got its start thousands of miles away.

Twenty young artists from the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula and Phillips Brooks School were inspired by paintings and drawings from children in Thailand and Cambodia that they saw exhibited last year at the club. In response, the students created their own works in watercolor, collage, painting, drawing and a collaborative clay tile mural.

Themes of the artwork are everyday life, festivals and temples.

"It was a delight to watch students visually compare and contrast Southeast Asian images with those of their own culture," said Patter Hellstrom, art specialist at Phillips Brooks.

The exhibition opens Tuesday, February 1, at the International Children's Art Alliance gallery at the Boys & Girls Club facility at 401 Pierce Road in Menlo Park. An opening reception is planned from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2, and the exhibition will remain open from noon to 8 p.m. daily through March 30.

As part of the show, exhibitions, classes and workshops for students are available, as well as docent-led tours. For more information, call Boys & Girls Club art education director Kelly Bathgate at 322-8065, extension 119.

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