Imagine 1,000 pieces of art in one exhibit venue.
No, it’s not the Carnegie Museum of Art. Try the Barnes & Noble store in Cranberry Township where in March, Mars Area School District students’ artwork was displayed in the district’s first Charity Art Show. The high school’s art club coordinated the show.
Elementary- and middle-school student artwork sales netted $2,000 for Butler County Humane Society. The high school art brought in $1,200 and covered the cost of staging the school play, “Seussical the Musical.” Proceeds from the musical—to the tune of $3,100—went to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“It was the first time we ever held a fundraising sale,” says Mars art teacher Erin Sloane. “For the sake of space, we limited the size of the works to 8-inches-by-10-inches. Elementary and middle school works were priced at $10 while the high school works were $25.”
Display boards were positioned around the store to present the art pieces. During the event, when a customer mentioned the art show at checkout, Barnes & Noble donated 10% of that sale.
Sloane established guidelines for the artists. With the Butler County Humane Society in mind, elementary and middle school students used bright tempura colors to paint dogs and cats in the tradition of Geroge Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog.”
Middle and high school students could choose any subject for their pieces, but were required to use red as their dominant color as an exercise in experimental paint application using a brush, bubble wrap or a foam roller.
The students were pleasantly surprised by the general public’s feedback. “It was an awakening for them,” Sloane says. “They found that what they had produced was marketable through good exposure.”
For art club member T.J. Peiffer, the art show provided a good promotional venue for “Seussical the Musical.”
“We had speakers and microphones set up at Barnes & Noble,” says Peiffer, who is now a freshman majoring in television and film at Columbia College in Chicago. “We sang tunes from the show to promote it.”
The $1,200 from the art sale paid for the rights to the “Seussical the Musical,” which cost $1,100.
“It was all student-run, including the orchestra, and the art club built the sets and created the costumes,” Peiffer says.
“Seussical the Musical” ran for two days—May 30 and 31—and drew 600 audience members each night at $5 per ticket.
“It was fantastic,” Sloane says about the work of the 65 cast and crew members.
“The (students) made the decisions and made the show what it was.”
High praise came from the principal’s office as well.
“It’s just what our kids do,” says Mars High School principal Dale Sleva. “They realize they are fortunate and want to give back to the community. Our kids are that good.”
