By Johnny McDonald | Balboa Park Update

Artist Don Knapp is an individual who takes pride in a 75-year-old tradition at the Spanish Art Center in Balboa Park, blending friendliness, crafts and art amidst beautiful old country surroundings.

The unique buildings are situated between the San Diego Zoo and the Natural History Museum with flowering bougainvilleas and multicolored cobblestones that welcome visitors into the courtyard. Knapp, who describes himself as a mixed-style painter, has been at the Center for 30 years, 14 of them in one of the studios.

“I work with more than one art product by using acrylic, pencil, pen and ink,” he said in describing his style. “I can make a collage or three-dimensional drawings.”

As to subject matter, Knapp said he is pretty much across the board. “I try not to be classified into only doing buildings or scenery. I do a lot of abstract work with really, really bright colors, working from my heart or mind,” he said.

Those projects could take a week or a month, due to interruptions.

Knapp said he likes to enlighten visitors about art, if he can, and spends as much time as he can. “Old or young, I like to encourage them to get into [art] because it’s a very soulful thing,” he said.

“I learned to paint as a teenage watching my talented grandmother work [at the Spanish Art Center],” he said. “She was one of the founders.”

“When the exposition [of 1935] closed, they were going to tear this place down. She joined with several other artists to convince city officials that it should be retained as an art center.”

Knapp said the stipulation in an agreement with the city was that the artists would spend time discussing their work with the visitors.

To participate as a studio artist in the Center, a jurying system, handled by college instructors and other museum representatives, assure higher standards from the artists. “I think because of that, the quality of work has improved over the years,” Knapp said. “That’s the criterion for being a member of the village, to give them a reason to step up.”

Knapp, who said he has held every position on the Center’s board of directors but president, recently received an inspiration award by the Friends of Balboa Park organization.

Chris Stell, publicist for the Center, said there are 200 artists who work in 37 studios. They include painters; sculptors; metal smiths; jewelry designers; clay, gourd, fiber and glass artists; photographers; printmakers; basket weavers and mixed-media artists.

Stell said the Center has several functions throughout the year, including a July open house with a silent auction, pottery and glassblowing shows. The Center is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.