CHERISHING OUR VALLEY 2013
Chalk Hill, seen in the background of William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, once was a very important source of limestone and lime for the San Fernando Valley. Stone was mined here to line the still existing warm water pool at Los Encinos Historical Monument in Encino. Winnetka Street seen here was named for a religious agricultural community in the early 1900s.
Taft High School at the corner of Ventura and Winnetka in Woodland Hills.
Taft High School students board an east bound bus.
The celebration of the Persian spring festival Nowruz is an idea time to visit one of the many San Fernando Valley's Iranian-American restaurants and markets. This section of Woodland Hills has many Persian businesses.
Is it a massage parlor or children's dentist? - a Persian accident attorney advertises above Hank's Tires a San Fernando Valley icon.
If you care as much about art, as the does The Museum Community, you must visit Art Departure Gallery in Woodland Hills. Go to its website at www.artdeparture.net to get an idea of what I am talking about.
I visited Art Departure while a class of elementary age students was in session, so I didn't want to distract the proprietor/teacher who was just amazing. One boy, who was exploding with creative energy, was talking about how much his hated school - yet, it was highly evident that he loved making art!
Since I did not have their parents' permission, I didn't photograph the teacher or her pupils, but the evidence of their creativity was everywhere - a sunami of energy and color. The great Swiss artist Paul Klee once said, "I have worked my entire life, trying to learn how to paint like a child."
If these walls at Art Departure could speak, we might hear the message loud and clear, "Why have the arts, in a Valley that makes its living on the creativity of the entertainment industry, been excluded from the curriculum of our public schools?
One needs to look no further at Art Departure than its workspace, to see its huge contribution to the lives of the children who take classes here.
Woodland Hills Market specializes in Persian and Middle Eastern products.
Persian cafes, bars and bakeries abound in Woodland Hills
A traditional Persian baker at Woodland Hills Market
I visited Art Departure while a class of elementary age students was in session, so I didn't want to distract the proprietor/teacher who was just amazing. One boy, who was exploding with creative energy, was talking about how much his hated school - yet, it was highly evident that he loved making art!
Dragon
Have you made art today?
Street side garden at Hank's Tires
Comic Book Store
No comments:
Post a Comment