FOR ART'S SAKE STUDENTS MOUNT EXHIBIT.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

CANOGA PARK - Forget the wine and cheese.

For children attending an exhibit of their artwork at Canoga Park Youth Arts Center on Sunday, the hors d'oeuvres were cookies, chocolate cake, doughnuts and soda.

Organizer Spike Dolomite Ward, executive director of the Arts in Education Aid Council Inc., said ``kid-friendly food'' was chosen ``because it's their day.''

Ward estimated an attendance of 400 art lovers at the event.

Many of the parents attending the AEAC's fourth annual Valley Wide Student Art Show were seeing their children's art for the first time.

``Pretty good for a kindergartner,'' Galina Silverman, 31, of Encino said after seeing her daughter Rita's piece.

City Councilman Dennis Zine, who attended the event, said that when students make art it keeps them away from gangs and drugs.

``This is proactive prevention, and it gives them something to look forward to, and they get all excited about it,'' Zine said.

The works of about 200 students in kindergarten through 12th-grade were featured in the art show, with participation from schools throughout the Valley. Sunday's show, which mainly featured the work of younger children, was the last of two AEAC exhibits at the Canoga Park Youth Arts Center this month.

The students' pieces included portraits and paintings of abstract forms, skylines, animals, dragons and flowers. One table held ceramic works such as plates and vases, even a skull with horns sprouting from it.

In several works, students tried to copy the style of paintings they viewed recently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Third-grade student Ariana Barker of Canoga Park said that, when she looked at art by Pablo Picasso for a class exercise, ``You had to look at it deeply to see something, so that's what we tried to do with that.''

Ward said because schools have cut funding for arts her organization raised $50,000 this year to pay for materials and art teachers at schools.

The event also featured musical performances by students. In a traditional Mexican dress, Alejandra Vargas, 10, of San Fernando impressed the crowd with her folklorico singing. After performing at the event last year, Vargas was booked to perform at the Madrid Theatre, Ward said.

Vargas looked to have won another gig on Sunday.

``I can't believe she's 10 years old with a voice like that,'' said Zine, who added that he wanted her to sing at City Hall on Cinco de Mayo.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

A visitor passes the display of student art on exhibit at the Canoga Park Youth Arts Center on Sunday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer