STUDENTS SHOW THEIR ART AT KOMITAS CULTURAL COMITTEE CONTEST
Christopher Cadelago

Glendale News Press
10/04/12/news/gnp-armenian041210.txt
April 13 2010
CA

Photo: Shant Sarkisyan, 11, takes a look at other students’ work
during the Ark Family Center’s Komitas Cultural Committee youth art
contest. (Cheryl A. Guerrero/News-Press)

DOWNTOWN — A bald eagle, bucolic landscapes and busts of historically
significant figures greeted Vachik Gharibyan on Sunday evening on
his way into the Armenian Cultural Arts Contest.

Vachik’s pieces, inspired by classic, hand-drawn animation and scenes
from nature were among the more than 30 pieces of student artwork on
display at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles reception, sponsored
by the Ark Family Center’s Komitas Cultural Committee.

"Some of this I learned from my teacher," said Vachik, 10, pointing
across the room to Edward Manukyan. "Others I saw in books, or just
liked the colors."

Two of the paintings — one of a tropical bird and the other of a small
passerine bird — were mounted alongside each other and given prominent
placement at the reception, drawing smiles from the boy’s family.

Vachik, a student at Magic Brush Art Studio in Glendale, has seen his
imagination take flight since picking up the brush about a year ago,
he said. His third piece of work captured a moment from a classic
Walt Disney cartoon in which a young man asks permission from the
king to marry his daughter.

Other entries came from students Hamlet Sarkisyan, 17, who painted
a bald eagle, and Armen Barsegyan, 17, whose pieces touched on
architecture and nature. The evening included musical performances
and a presentation of awards, all part of the Ark Family Center’s
mission to stimulate personal growth for youth, adults and families,
organizers said.

The Komitas Cultural Committee is a group of Armenian professionals
who raise awareness about Armenian history and culture, providing a
place where children can connect with their roots.