Welcome to the
Efrén González
Children's Art Program
About Efrén González
Efrén González was born in Ajijic, and was a student in the Neill James children's art program in the 1980s. He has since studied with well-known painters, watercolourists, and sculptors. He is now himself an internationally-recognised painter and muralist – particularly in the mediums of acrylic, oil, watercolor, and pastel.
He began his journey to becoming a working artist when he was young – Efrén likes to say, “Art started with a pencil – almost as soon as I could hold it.” He won local and regional drawing contests when he was in primaria (primary school), and now his work is chosen by galleries across North America.
The Children's Art Program
To give back to his community, Efrén created a children's art program several years ago to teach art to local children, and implant in them a passion for art – so that, just maybe, some might follow in his footsteps. His latest program has moved from its roots at his studio/gallery in Ajijic centro to his new museo in west Ajjic. The initial focus is on children from the west-side, who have difficulty attending other local art programs. He now offers weekly free art classes at his Ajijic Museo de Arte, at Privada Flores Magon #3A in Ajijic – all art supplies and materials are provided to the students free of charge. Efrén strongly believes that the children in our community are the future of art in Ajijic!
Children's Art Cards
Selected work created by the children in our art program is scanned, and made into art cards. These high-quality reproductions are sold at various events around town. Half of the proceeds from the sale of each card goes to the young artist who created it – the remainder goes towards art supplies for the classes. Please support our kids!
Upcoming Art Card Sales in the Lakeside Area
This sale will take place on
Saturday, February 1, 2025 at the
Centro Laguna Mall Art Connection's “Art in the Plaza”
exhibition from 10am to 3pm.
Come out and see our kids' charming art cards.
This is true children's art from young art students
aged 7 to 12 years of age – our program does not have any
19 -25 year old “kids” in it!
A portion of all proceeds are paid to the child artist.
Please support our kids!
Selected Photos of Our Kids Learning Art
Photos courtesy of Danielle Pagé
How to Appreciate Chldren's Art
You can't compare children's art to art produced by adult professional artists. Unlike other children's art programs with some "kids" aged 18 to 28, our children are only 7 to 11 years of age. Our art students all have great potential because they have imagination, creativity, and passion. However, they have only just started on their journey towards learning the technical skills needed to fully realise their ideas. That said, their art is charming, and, often, surprising. When you consider their work in the context of the age of each young artist, you will be amazed at the quality of the vision and composition of someone so young.
Gallery of Children's Art Cards
Below you can view a selection of art cards from Efrén's young artists
Select a category below to see only art of a given type
Each category of images is initially shown in order of ascending card numbers
Select the “Artist Name” button below to group the images by the young artists' first names instead,
or select the “Newest First” button to display the cards from newest to oldest
Click on any thumbnail image below to view a full-size image
You can close the expanded image by clicking the 'X' on its bottom right
Card #: 0001
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 11
Card #: 0002
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 10
Card #: 0003
Artist: Karla Sofia Padilla Hernández
Age: 9
Card #: 0004
Artist: Anna Lucia Cuellar
Age: 8
Card #: 0005
Artist: Ximena Alessandra Castilo
Age: 10
Card #: 0006
Artist: Regina Sarahi Rojas
Age: 8
Card #: 0007
Artist: Dylan Francisco Grasiliano
Age: 8
Card #: 0008
Artist: Dylan Francisco Grasiliano
Age: 8
Card #: 0009
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0010
Artist: Anna Lucia Cuellar
Age: 8
Card #: 0011
Artist: Julio Cesar Caseañe de Gonzalez
Age: 10
Card #: 0012
Artist: Julio Cesar Caseañe de Gonzalez
Age: 10
Card #: 0013
Artist: Lótus Cuto da Costa
Age: 8
Card #: 0014
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 11
Card #: 0015
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0016
Artist: Karla Sofia Padilla Hernández
Age: 9
Card #: 0017
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 11
Card #: 0018
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0019
Artist: Rogelio Paul Grasiliano
Age: 10
Card #: 0020
Artist: Matias
Age: 8
Card #: 0021
Artist: Elena Guadalupe Solarzano Puga
Age: 8
Card #: 0022
Artist: Anna Lucia Cuellar
Age: 8
Card #: 0023
Artist: Matias
Age: 8
Card #: 0024
Artist: Alan A
Age: 10
Card #: 0025
Artist: Ana Karla
Age: 11
Card #: 0026
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0027
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 10
Card #: 0028
Artist: Itzia Giselle Espiritu Martines
Age: 9
Card #: 0029
Artist: Ana Karen Rojas Tingen
Age: 10
Card #: 0030
Artist: Natalia Beas
Age: 8
Card #: 0031
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 11
Card #: 0032
Artist: Natalia Beas
Age: 8
Card #: 0033
Artist: Natalia Beas
Age: 8
Card #: 0034
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0035
Artist: Angel Ali Solarzano
Age: 7
Card #: 0036
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0037
Artist: Nitai Kalel
Age: 9
Card #: 0038
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0039
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 10
Card #: 0040
Artist: Kalel Muñiz
Age: 9
Card #: 0041
Artist: Elena Guadalupe Solarzano Puga
Age: 8
Card #: 0042
Artist: Angel Ali Solarzano
Age: 7
Card #: 0043
Artist: Natalia Beas
Age: 7
Card #: 0044
Artist: Lótus Cueto da Costa
Age: 7
Card #: 0045
Artist: Lótus Cueto da Costa
Age: 7
Card #: 0046
Artist: Zahori Guadalupe Gonzalez
Age: 11
Card #: 0047
Artist: Santiago Rubio
Age: 9
Card #: 0048
Artist: Angel Ali Solarzano Puga
Age: 7
Card #: 0049
Artist: Itzia Giselle Espiritu Martines
Age: 9
Card #: 0050
Artist: Mateo Inclán Parra
Age: 13
Card #: 0051
Artist: Zahori Guadalupe Gonzalez
Age: 11
Card #: 0052
Artist: Alan Azael
Age: 10
Card #: 0053
Artist: Samantha Gulilea Trujillo
Age: 11
Card #: 0054
Artist: Mateo Inclán Parra
Age: 13
Card #: 0055
Artist: Emilia Ruby C C
Age: 16
Card #: 0056
Artist: Andrea
Age: 8
Our Volunteers
Our Children's Art Program could not run without the help of our volunteers giving of their time to help our kids on their art journey.
Maestros (teachers): Efrén González, Kenia Paoce, Javier Zaragoza, and Ricardo Sánchez Corona
Administration and card sales: Danielle Pagé
Website, card production, and promotion: Garry Musgrave