TONY BARNES HAS SEEN the power of music firsthand. As a teacher at Oxnard's Curren Elementary School he witnessed a miracle of sorts when a sixth-grader with selective mutism who had never spoken to an adult outside his own family before finally opened up.

"I brought my guitar and gave him my attention," Barnes explained quite simply.

Music turned Barnes around, too. "I came from a pretty horrific background. My brother was in juvenile hall and I was almost there, too." He credits his own fifth-grade teacher with starting the musical spark which changed his life and has led him on a singular mission to make sure every child has the experience of playing an instrument.

Barnes founded a non-profit group called Peace Thru Music to do just that. Since 2002 he has visited area schools and community groups donating instruments and spreading the joys of music with an infectious enthusiasm which also rubs off on the adults he encounters.

"There are any number of kids who have never held an instrument," explained Peace Thru Music Executive Director Heather Mackinga. The group's goal is to provide instruments to children who have demonstrated need and eventually establish a fund to pay for lessons.

BUT IT'S MORE THAN JUST THAT, Barnes said. "Kids need places to go. They need accomplishment." The group's core mission is to teach conflict resolution along with musical skills. While out visiting schools with his guitar, Barnes often can be heard leading the chant, "Pick on strings, not living things."

It all resonates with the students, Mackinga says. "Tony has an amazing ability to connect to the kids and get their attention."

Barnes laments the back-burner status music has been relegated to in the lower grades. His group was instrumental in jumpstarting the Bronco Band at Will Rogers Elementary, the only one in any of Ventura's elementary schools.

Peace Thru Music is struggling a bit with funding, Barnes said, as are most non-profits these days. They recently received a boost when MTV gave the group a plug and assisted in providing instruments. Because of that, Mark Burnett Productions of "Survivor" fame asked Peace Thru Music to be involved in an upcoming musical reality show, "Jingles," Mackinga said. The group is also hoping to publish, as a fundraiser, a book with short stories from famous musicians.

IN THE MEAN TIME, Barnes is only too happy to partner with other kid-friendly organizations who also need a boost. Peace Thru Music has helped with open microphone nights at Ventura's new City Corps, a civic works project for at-risk kids. The two groups are currently holding a used musical instrument drive. (Bring donations to the City Corps office at 77 N. California St., between 1 and 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.) And the group is lining up talent to play before Kevin Costner's band Modern West takes the stage this Saturday in Downtown Ventura.

"We're all like musical instruments in a band when we work together," Barnes explained.

For more information about Peace Thru Music, go to www.peacethrumusic.org. For information about City Corps, which is looking for volunteer youth leaders ages 18 to 24, call 653-2351

THE SPECTACLE of the Bus Home sculpture at the forlorn north end of our mall, with its fancifully twisted form now giving way to rust and deterioration, has been a lightning rod of sorts for public criticism of the way our city government operates.

It's taken on the proportions of an urban myth with people crying out incorrectly "The city wasted millions on that sculpture!" I've tackled this topic before in the comments section of this blog, but after reading yet another incorrect accounting of our city's Public Art Program recently, I decided it deserved a blog entry of its own.

Facts: Bus Home cost $164,000, of which the artist was paid a design fee of $42,000. The cost of the entire Bus Transfer Center at the north end of the mall was approximately $2.2 million. This includes bus shelters, the restrooms, bicycle racks and lockers, an information kiosk, lighting, drinking fountains, public art, and landscaping.

The inclusion of a public art piece at the site made the city eligible for a federal grant for the project, paying for the inclusion of public restrooms. Bus Home is inarguably in need of repair these days due to faulty preparation of the piece before painting. The city has recovered $80,000 from the original contractor and fabricator for repairs.

I HAVE A BIT OF A LOVE-HATE view of the city's Public Art Program. There are pieces in the collection which I adore. Of particular note are Larissa Strauss' wonderful mosaic at Marina Park, the top-notch municipal art collection at City Hall, the Streetscape Mural Project, the upcoming Tortilla Flats mural and the "Making Lemonade" sculpture at Thille Park.

My trouble with the program comes in here: The funding mechanism for the projects is so widely misunderstood that I sometimes wonder if the many benefits of having a Public Art Program are outweighed by the often negative public perception that comes with it.

Here's a lesson in Public Art Funding 101: Ventura's Public Art Program was enacted in 1991. It is an actual ordinance allocating 2 percent of eligible Capital Improvement Project (CIP) costs for the commissioning of artist services. Specifically excluded by the Public Art Ordinance are street resurfacing and water and sewer line replacement projects.

The money comes from specific CIP funds and cannot legally be used to pay for police and fire personnel, a suggestion I often hear in the community. (They are paid through the General Fund.) Money which comes from golf fees can only be used for golf areas, such as "The Big Swing" sculpture at the golf course. Sewer and water fees can only go for projects related to sewer and water projects, thus the "Harbor Wetlands" project near the treatment plant, etc.

So the Public Art Fund could never go for police and fire salaries. Now the council could choose to suspend the 1991 ordinance, but the money would only go to Capital Improvement Projects, never to police and fire.

There is a very small amount of money from the General Fund which sometimes goes to Public Art. Last year it was $7,231, according to City Manager Rick Cole.

OK, ARE YOUR EYES GLAZED OVER by that long-winded explanation? Exactly. I think there are only a handful of citizens who actually understand this funding mechanism. So when the city is strapped by a bad economy as it is now, and looks for ways to fund fire and police through new taxes and fees, the cry goes out: "The city wastes money on art. Use that money instead." But the vast majority is locked in by law for capital improvements only.

I asked City Public Art Supervisor Denise Sindelar about the program. She likened it to the Works Progress Administration projects of the 1930s -- "architectural design that is enhanced by an artist's touch."

Ventura's 1991 ordinance, Sindelar said, was actually passed in a period of massive city layoffs.

"They were saying, 'How can we get some art in the public realm without affecting police and fire funding?' This is the most effective way to incorporate it in the public environment."

I OPENED MY NEW COPY of Sunset magazine the other day and was pleased to find a large, eye-catching ad promoting Ventura as a tourist destination and arts mecca. Since being appointed to the city's Cultural Affairs Commission in 2006, I have been keenly interested in the city's promotion of the arts as an economic generator.

But is the "New Arts City" strategy really paying off?

According to internationally known arts marketing expert Jerry Yoshitomi, it is. "There's a lot going on from a fairly modest investment by the city," he noted. Yoshitomi, who has an office in the Bell Arts Factory, a thriving arts center, also praised the accessibility of the creative scene. "My sense is that Ventura's become a place where you can experience the arts on a more regular basis."

Cultural Affairs Manager Kerry Adams-Hapner is happy to point to the city's growth in cultural tourism. "Over the past 10 years, our artists and arts organizations have raised the bar and elevated Ventura's reputation as a destination for cultural tourists," she said.

These visitors, such as those who attend ArtWalk Downtown, tend to stay longer, eat in local restaurants and stay in our hotels, providing needed sales tax revenue, Adams-Hapner explained. ArtWalk will become a two-day event in April and sponsors hope to attract many regional visitors.

VENTURA'S ARTISTS and non-profit arts businesses generate more than $18 million in economic activity annually, according to an Economic Impact of the Arts in Ventura Report conducted in 2004. Nationally, the arts have been a boon to many cities. Newsweek magazine recently reported that real estate prices often see an uptick in area where artists live.

The city is also a partner in the Working Artists Ventura (WĀV) project, which just began construction in Downtown Ventura.

You would be hard pressed to find an endeavor aimed at meeting more of Ventura's needs. It is a virtuoso undertaking which will pump dollars into the local economy through jobs and retail sales, provide affordable housing for artists, assisted housing for homeless families and market-rate ocean-view penthouse condos for upper-income residents. The project will create an environmentally friendly atmosphere and enliven our already thriving arts community through a theater, gallery space and cafes.

"It was a conspiracy for public good," said Chris Velasco of Projects Linking Art, Community & Environment (PLACE), the stewards of the project.

All this economic activity is wonderful, but there is another value of the arts scene in Ventura that doesn't come with a price tag. The city's many arts events get us off the couch and out of the house. "They have a community-building impact," Yoshitomi said. "The events actually encourage a camaraderie."