By Cynthia Robertson

Twelve years ago, San Carlos resident Penelope Quirk started offering after-school art lessons called Art Smarts, which continues today to be a success among local school children. She took several small and big steps to create her lessons that have children from ages 5 through 12 working in various art media, including pastels and pencils.

Quirk first started out as art docent coordinator at Murray Manor Elementary in La Mesa. She increased the annual budget for art supplies at Murray Manor. Originally, the art budget had been $450 for over 500 students. Quirk attended PTA meetings and had that budget raised to $1,200 per year.

Next, she volunteered to teach art in seven classrooms per week. The school had required only a one-hour art lesson per month, but often had no volunteers to teach it.

Then Quirk came up with a few more of her own ideas, including for the school to have an all- school art show during the annual open house. The principal agreed, with the stipulation that no art classes during school would be allowed for the upper grades, three through six, in order to concentrate on academics only.

Quirk got together a bunch of volunteers to have an after-school art workshop, free to the students who were unable to finish a piece of artwork during school hours.

“For one full week, the volunteers held free art workshops open to kids,” Quirk said. “Every day about 150 students came just so they could have a piece of artwork to display during our first annual art show during open house.”

When the principal saw the overwhelming thirst for art during these organized workshops, the after-school art program began at Murray Manor Elementary. It was originally called Art Enrichment. After two years, Quirk changed the name to Art Smarts.

Ever since its beginning, Art Smarts has been a popular after-school program at Murray Manor, with a full session of students to this day.

It’s no wonder. When Quirk walks into the classroom, the kids literally run up to her and smother her with hugs. She makes them feel comfortable with art and with each other, no matter the difference in ages. For instance, Hannah Hardenburger, 6, feels very much at home painting a picture of a Fennec Fox along with the kids around her, Jacob Starkey, 9 and his sister Carley.

“This is like an alphabet vacation,” Hardenburger said, drawing whiskers on the fox face. “This year in school I’m learning the alphabet, and it’s hard.”

Katelyn Collins, an Art Smarts instructor recently hired by Quirk, helps to pass around pieces of paper for the kids’ drawings.

“Penny is bringing art back to the kids, it’s true, but it’s so much more than just drawing,” Collins said. “The kids are learning problem-solving, creative thinking and collaborating with others. They are learning, too, that the art world is unlimited.”

Rhaylene Mosso, whose daughter Mayalyn, 11, has been taking Art Smarts classes since she was 6 years old, agrees with Collins. Mosso said the classes taught her daughter to learn and experiment with different media while doing art with friends.

“I think the class inspired her to be an artist,” Mosso said. “She is constantly creating all different types of art and she has a great eye for unique color choices.”

Quirk brings a wealth of art education and background to her experience in the classroom. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1981, with a major in printmaking, Quirk went to the San Francisco Art Institute where she took more printmaking classes. When she arrived in San Diego in 1984, she enrolled in graphics art classes at San Diego City College to learn graphics and computer skills.

“That was about 20 years ago when people who were my age learned the computer,” Quirk said “It was a process we all learned together. This became essential to growing my business with Art Smarts.”

As Art Smarts developed over the years, Quirk used her own artwork to develop lesson plans for the company, doing samples for the approximately 165 lessons.

“I began painting a series of sea turtles, inspired after I was touched by one while swimming in Hawaii,” she said. “It became a passion of mine and I decided I was going to display them.”

Quirk has exhibited her art in several galleries, including at On the Edge gallery in La Mesa, where she was awarded the People’s Choice Award, earning a solo show this past January. An entire wall full of her sea turtle paintings as well as exhibits of artwork of her lesson plans for Art Smarts filled the gallery.

“Many kids from the schools came to see an actual art opening of a real artist,” Quirk said.

Her company now has plans to expand its art lessons to Mission Trails Regional Park.

For more information about Art Smarts, go to artsmarts.net.

—Cynthia Robertson is a San Diego-based freelance writer. Contact her by email at [email protected].