Savahna Amico enjoys drawing crayon portraits of her beloved mixed-breed Rottweiler and chow pooch named Max.
And the bright-eyed Walsh Middle School seventh-grader has her own opinions about professional artist Joan Snyder's evocative symbolic paintings at the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham.
"Look at all the different sunflowers in this painting," she told schoolmates last week. "I see dead flowers and alive flowers. Some are happy. Some are sad. How does that make you feel?"
It definitely makes Katherine French, the Danforth's dynamic executive director, feel she is doing something right by reaching out to the next generation of museum visitors.
In early October she oversaw the opening at the Danforth of one of her newest initiatives -- a second-floor gallery devoted entirely to illustrators of children's books.
French said, "Children's books are really children's first art gallery."
"Children's education is really part of our mission. Our new gallery is a way to get children engaged through an enriching experience," she said. "It makes sense the Danforth should have a gallery for children. It fits in perfectly with what we're doing."
The children's gallery is free with museum admission.
French said the new gallery, that formerly served as a classroom and corridor before an extensive $225,000 renovation, "links" the first-floor museum to the second-floor Museum School.
"Now we're connected physically, thematically and programatically," she said.
French credited the Sudbury Foundation and the Francis Dewey Foundation for donating $30,000 and $20,000, respectively, for the new gallery.
The gallery has been designed with young visitors in mind.
French said paintings are hung 50 inches from the floor, instead of the standard 60 inches for adult viewers, to let children look at them naturally in an intimate atmosphere without craning their necks or standing on their tiptoes.
Located in a space expanded and remodeled during recent renovations, the gallery is now hosting its third show since opening Oct. 2.
Jarett Krosoczka, a Worcester artist who illustrated several popular children books including "Monkey Boy" and "Punk Farm," just finished an exhibit of more than 20 vivid prints.
Anna Alter, a Boston artist who has illustrated nine books with charming images of cats and other animals, just opened a new exhibit that will run through Jan. 8.
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she populates books like "The Three Little Kittens" and "The Bird Shadow" with friendly furry creatures who will charm young readers.
French said the children's gallery will host rotating exhibits of contemporary illustrators whose works capture young readers' interests and imaginations. Typically, each exhibit will run six to eight weeks and often begin with a book signing by the author, she said.
Children's picture books, French believes, play a crucial role helping young readers develop "the verbal and visual language" that provides a foundation for later learning.
"Sitting on their parents' laps, reading an illustrated book is often how children begin to acquire language and art," French said.
A group of Walsh Middle School students described the art in the new gallery as fun, interesting and exciting.
"I think it might encourage kids to read the books the pictures are from," said Kendra Rumbika, an 11-year-old sixth-grader who has been illustrating her own stories for several years. "There's more pictures than in grown-up books."
The Walsh students at the museum are participants in Citizen Schools, an enrichment program presented by the MetroWest YMCA, according to Campus Director Anjuli Judge.
For three months the Walsh students have been taking part in the Danforth Art Apprenticeship Program that introduces middle-schoolers "to the art museum experience."
As part of the program, students learn how to look at paintings to understand "what does it tell you." Additionally, they meet docents who explain how they help visitors appreciate the exhibits, and visiting artists and art teachers who tell students how they can become artists.
Amico, Rumbika and the others were at the museum Thursday preparing their "WOW!" -- a presentation for family and friends about what they learned at the museum.
Growing up in Costa Rica, 14-year-old Alexander Garro said he rarely saw picture books written with young readers in mind.
"That's why I like this room," the eighth-grader said, motioning around the gallery. "It's fun to look around. The colors are bright. The pictures tell a story. It makes me want to read those books."
French said children often respond more intuitively to visual art than adults who often bring preconceived attitudes to the museum.
"Children might be getting more out of it than we do," she said. "They don't think about what they're 'supposed' to be getting. They get the real experience."
Sixth-grader Alexandra Tranghes might agree.
Rehearsing her "WOW!" presentation in the new gallery, she asked her schoolmates to "find the picture in the story" told by the paintings on the wall.
"I think kids will like this (gallery) a lot because the pictures are fun. They might want to bring their friends," she said afterward. " And maybe they'll want to create their own story books."
THE ESSENTIALS:
The Danforth Museum of Art is located at 123 Union Ave., Framingham.
Hours are Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The museum will be closed Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1.
Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and free for children under 12 and Danforth members.
The museum is handicapped accessible.
To learn more about Anna Alter's art and books, visit www.annaalter.com.
An ongoing exhibit, "Joan Snyder: A Painting Survey, 1969-2005" runs through Feb. 5.
The Danforth is currently exhibiting a new installation, "Bipolar Radiance," by Bruce Bemis, through Jan. 8.
