Art Students Benefit Community with Exhibits and Charity

by Jacquie Masters
EAST LIVERPOOL- Prof. Elizabeth Babb is encouraging KSU Art Students to branch out of the classroom with their artistic abilities.

With the encouragement of her own students and others, Prof. Babb has devised a number of ideas to get her students and members of the community more involved and interested in art.

After Babb studied at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, she realized the value of artistic expression and its final result.

She wants to shed some light on local artists and believes that art can save a community and bring people together.

“I want people to understand that art can be relevant. Art does matter. I want people to understand it’s importance.” Babb says.

Babb has shown some of her drawing techniques to interested people at the Burchfield House in Salem, Ohio, which once was the childhood home of Charles Burchfield, a famous indigenous painter.

Under her guidance, some of her current Drawing 1 students are participating in local art and charity art shows. Students have been working on projects for the Alley Cat Aid Brigade Charity Auction, a group of volunteers who want to reduce the stray cat population in a humane way.

Aptly named T-N-R, meaning Trap, Neuter and Return, the group of volunteers separate kittens from the feral cats, so the kittens can be adopted. The feral cats are tested for diseases and the healthy cats are vaccinated and returned to their colony.

The Alley Cat Aid Brigade is sponsoring the Art for Animals auction. The art auction will begin at 6 p.m. at Coffee Fusion and Tea Company in East Liverpool on September 6, 2008. Artists can use any medium and the work may be of any subject. The deadline for entry is Sunday, August 31st. Artists may drop off their work at Coffee Fusion.

Along with the Art for Animals event, Drawing 1 students have also been working on projects for the Danklef Hill Gallery’s Functional Art show, where the exhibits are, as the title implies, functional and working. It is predicted that artists will display such things as handmade jewelry, clocks, clothing.

The exhibit begins May 1st through June 28th. The DH Gallery is located in Salem, next to the Salem Community Theatre above the Friends Roastery.

Babb hopes that her students will not only continue to participate in art in their classes but in the community too, and thinks these projects are a step in the right direction. For more information on the Alley Cat Aid Brigade or the Art for Animals auction please call: 330-532-9064. For more information on the DH Gallery Functional Art Show, visit the gallery during business hours to pick up an application or visit http://www.thedhgallery.com/ for a downloadable copy.