ESCONDIDO -- Rays of sunlight danced across the beach oil painting, illuminating varying shades of blue in the ocean waves and highlighting the angles in the back of a young boy who sat playing in the sand.

A clay self-portrait, with a rigid nose, pronounced cheek bones and a piercing gaze -- a contradiction to the breezy, playful painting that hangs on the wall nearby -- sits in the window, beckoning passers-by into the downtown Escondido art gallery.

These pieces are just two of more than 60 arts forms on display this week and next at The Artists Gallery, 121 W. Grand Ave., in a show that pays tribute to young, old, beginning and professional artists from the Escondido Union High School District's Adult School Fine Arts Program.

The exhibit, titled "Lifelong Learning," features a range of media and styles, including oil, watercolor, pastel paintings, sculptures, portraitures and more. Many of the pieces, done by both the school's four instructors and their students, are for sale.

"I think it's wonderful to have this opportunity and for the public to come and see the work of Escondido art students," said Adult School art student Kathy Marler, 52, who toured the quaint, one-room gallery Wednesday morning with her grandson and parents. "There are a lot of really talented artists here."

With 2-year-old Aiden Volk's arms clasped around her neck, the pair jumped from one painting to the next, noting the colors they liked and the settings they preferred.

"Beach, beach," Aiden said eagerly, cuing Marler to return once again to a small painting of two people standing on the beach.

Each of the school's art classes were invited to show between 15 and 20 pieces. Some classes voted on the best work, and others, such as Marler's, picked names out of a hat.

Unfortunately, she said, her name was not one of the ones chosen.

The exhibit is representative of the school's art instructors, Joe Garcia, Helen Schafer-Garcia, Karen O'Rourke, Nathan Huff, and the about 250 students they teach, Principal Dom Gagliardi said. The school spent about $1,500 to cover each of the artists' entry fee and reserve the gallery for a month.

"We are really trying to promote the art education program through the Adult School," Gagliardi said, noting that the exhibit overlaps Adult Education Week, an honor celebrated statewide this week. "We are trying to promote the whole concept of lifelong learning and we have been doing it for a long time."

The Adult School first opened in 1968, and the art program has been a fixture of it for most of that time, he said.

Both Gagliardi and several Adult School students said the program really rounds out the educational opportunities at the school and provides them with art instruction and opportunities for a career that they could not afford elsewhere.

"You are never over learning," 68-year-old art student Carolyn Dalton said earlier this week at the gallery, where she volunteers during the week. "It's gotten to the point where this is an activity that really changes your lifestyle. It's my passion."

A large pastel painting of a flower, titled "Nature's Royal Gem," hangs on the wall over where Dalton is experimenting with oils.

"It is very thrilling," she said of the exhibit and having the opportunity to display their work publicly. "It is one of the most exciting things."

The "Lifelong Learning" art show runs through March 24. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call (760) 489-0338.

- Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.