Temecula Students Showcase their Art at the Promenade Mall

Mall shoppers are in for an extra visual treal this month. The 11th Annual Youth Art Exhibit is underway at the mall through Feb. 28, showcasing hundreds of artworks created by local students from schools in Temecula and Murrieta.

Students from more than 40 public and private schools in Temecula and Murrieta submitted works for the annual youth art exhibit, which offers local children the chance to have their original artworks displayed in public.

About 450 works, mostly paintings but also some three-dimensional masks, photographs, collages, ceramics and pottery, are displayed at various locations throughout the mall’s interior.

The exhibit is presented by the Arts Council of the Temecula Valley, as well as the Promenade Mall, the Temecula Creek Inn, , Bigfoot Graphics, the Kiwanis Club of the Temecula Valley and the Murrieta Rotary Club.

“The Arts Council supports and promotes the arts in general with an emphasis on youth,” said Arts Council President Gregory Kind, who helped hang paintings for the art show this week.

Kind said it could be years until local school budgets recover from years of budget cuts which have seen many school arts programs be cut back or eliminated, so it’s especially important for community groups to step in and get involved.

Kind hopes other non-profits and community organizations will also help promote art programs for the region’s young people.