Arnold David Clapman  

One day back in 1995, I was scanning the shelves in Atlantis Fantasyworld, the venerable comic book store in Santa Cruz ,  California,and spotted a comic that I illustrated  around 1984. I introduced myself to Joe Ferraro, the owner, and offered to sign the comic to make it a collectible. Instead, Joe gave it to me as a gift and a friendship began that has lasted for 15 years.

A week later, Joe recommended me as a comic book art instructor at the Children's  Art Center of Santa Cruz. The class attracted a "Dream Team" of talented teenagers whose  artwork inspired me to publish the first issue of Comix by Kidz.

When the center went out of business, I moved my students to Sash Mill and Arnie's Comic Book Art Classes was born. For 16 years, my students' artwork was displayed in galleries, restaurants, fairs and other venues throughout the county. Artwork also came from the at-risk and incarcerated teens that I worked with in various outreach programs representing a dramatic transition as graffiti artists with outstanding warrants channelled their talents into the legal and public forum offered to them by Comix by Kidz comic books.

We applied for and received numerous youth grants from the Santa Cruz Community Foundation along with the support of many local merchants. This support facilitated the publishing of two more issues of our comic book, Comix by Kidz.

On a very special day for me and my "Dream Team" of teenage artists,  our comic books and classes were praised by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book artist  and creator of the renown graphic novels, "Maus 1 & 2", during an event sponsored by the Santa Cruz Sentinel which took place at the University of California Santa Cruz.  

Art Spiegelman spent quality time with my studends and then guided them through a private showing of his work on display in the university gallery. It was a thrilling day for all of my gifted prodigies.

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