A legacy begun by pioneer expatriate Neill James in 1954 has been picked up, remodeled, streamlined, and adjusted to current needs through the years by several folks who have come after.
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Children’s Art Program appears to be again gaining strength and popularity with classes now averaging between 60 and 80 students gathering on the society’s back patio and studying various art forms besides the typical drawing and painting.
James’ original program had art classes with a paid professional teacher five days a week. Talented students received scholarships to study art at the university level and many of them have become prominent artists and gallery owners. Some of those are now well known at Lakeside and include Javier Zaragoza, Jesus Lopez Vega, Antonio Lopez Vega, Bruno Mariscal, Efren Gonzalez, Luis Enrique Martinez and Javier Ramos.
The program in the 1950s also required that those participating in the art program spend a half hour a day reading in the public library James built, before they could go on to the art class.The program, nearly on its last legs several years ago, was rescued by artist and writer Mildred Boyd. It was she who turned it into a Saturday morning program. (It made sense since kids today go to school in shifts and don’t all have after-school time at once.) Boyd was devoted to the project until her death in 2010.
Today, the program is flourishing with the support of the Lake Chapala Society and the Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) that helps support the program financially. ASA recently donated 6,500 pesos, a portion of the ticket sales from their Open Studios tour in February. The Children’s Program has been promised that they will also benefit from next year’s Open Studio tour. ASA also supplies many of the volunteers for the program. The solid core of volunteers includes many of the original “legacy” artists, particularly Zaragoza and Jesus and Antonio Lopez Vega, who are “giving back” to the program.
Underway today, after an absence of many years, is a weekly reading program every Saturday morning before the art program. It’s not a requirement but the number of interested children is on the rise. The class starts at 9:15 a.m. and serves to incorporate children’s literature into the art program. First the children are read to (in Spanish) for 15 minutes and then they are asked questions about the material to encourage their oral expression. The kids often use the readings as inspiration for their art.
In keeping with James’ inspiration, a large portion of the sale of each work of art is given to the child artist. The balance helps pay for the cost of producing art, as well as art supplies for the program. “It’s important for these young artists to understand the rules of business that they will take with them into whatever profession they choose,” says volunteer Danielle Page.
Coming up for the program is a sale of the children’s work on Can-Am Day (July 1), an “Art Camp” during the third week of July culminating in a special show and sale, a contest for the Feria Maestros del Arte on August 3, 10 and 17 and the LCS Directory cover contest in November.
Though the LCS Children’s Art Program receives help through many avenues, there is always a need for more cash, new ideas, more energy, those who can teach a craft and just plain volunteers to keep such a large program going. If you would like to participate in this important program that has surely contributed and continues to contribute to Lakeside’s tradition of art and artists, stop by the Lake Chapala Society on Saturday morning and see how much fun everyone is having. You can reach Delayne Giardini at (376) 762-1721.