ART / SNEAK PEEK : MURALS PART OF CSUN'S ART DOME LANDSCAPE.

When the future art histories of Southern California are written, there's sure to be a chapter or three devoted to muralists and graffiti painters. Drive through virtually any downtown underpass and you'll see the colorfully assertive handiwork of these official and self-anointed street poets.

Not that L.A. always appreciates their efforts. One prominent Olvera Street mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros, the great Mexican painter and ardent socialist, was deemed too abrasive and promptly whitewashed.

No fear that will happen to a new exhibition of mural proposals opening Monday at the Art Dome of California State University, Northridge.

Addressing the theme of Southern California's endangered species, the murals-in-planning were drafted by public and private high school students from throughout the San Fernando Valley. Winners are to be chosen by the renowned Los Angeles muralists East Los Streetscapers and funded by the Arts Council for CSUN. The lucky first-place project will be painted and displayed outside the CSUN Art Galleries at 18111 Nordhoff St.

``Public Art, Community and the Environment'' runs Monday through Dec. 20, takes a break for the holidays, then returns Jan. 6-18. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Admission is free. For information, call [phone].

Bits and pieces: You might say that northeast Valley artist Leonard A. Bermudez cares as much about the parts as their sum.

Working with metal fragments, pieces of canvas and whatever materials suit his ends, Bermudez deals in fractured forms that eventually find a resolution in his three-dimensional compositions.

His aptly titled one-man show, ``Pick-N-Up the Pieces'' opens Tuesday at Artspace Gallery in Woodland Hills and runs through Dec. 21, with a special reception 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 7.

Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. The gallery is at 21800 Oxnard St., main plaza. Free admission, validated parking. For information, call [phone].

From the Heartland: Arthur Kasakove depicted the Hanukkah dreidels he remembered playing with as a child.

Esther Ann Petschar wanted to pay tribute to her niece in the police department for exemplifying year-round the Christmas spirt of ``courage and caring.''

And Chris Samp evoked the ancient, pre-Christian rituals that humanity once used to mark the winter solstice.

In these and scores of other ways, artists of all ages are splashing the holiday spirit across downtown Santa Monica, the seaside burg where the seasons never seem to change.

Visit the city's central business district throughout December and you'll encounter the artists' visions on 900 hand-painted banners hung from city lampposts. Titled ``Opening the Heart,'' the display encourages participants to look beyond the usual holiday themes and metaphors in search of more personal truths.

To view the artworks, all you'll need is a decent pair of walking shoes. But for a closer look at the banners and those who made them, plan on visiting an accompanying exhibition about the project, being held through Dec. 31 at three locations: Santa Monica Place's Community Focus Gallery, Third Street and Broadway; the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 Fourth St.; and the Chamber of Commerce, 501 Colorado Ave., Suite 150. Admission is free. For information, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Arthur Kasakove depicted the Hanukkah dreidels he remembers from his childhood.

(2) Esther Ann Petschar wanted to pay tribute to her niece for the spirit of ``courage and caring.''

(3) Chris Samp evoked the ancient rituals that humanity once used to mark the winter solstice.