ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Child_Bird

May 15, 2014

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –ARTIST OF THE MONTH 

 

Southington Library and Museum

255 Main Street

Southington, CT 06489

Jeanne Chmielewski phone 860-628-0947 ext 113 fax 860-628-0488

Email chmielewski@southington.org 

 

Let Inspiration Soar an ”Art for a Cause” exhibit to benefit student selected charities

Birds by Kelley Elementary School student artists are up for auction with more than 20 charities to benefit! ‘Let Inspiration Soar’ is a collection of 42 birds artfully decorated by kids in kindergarten through 6th grade. Completely transforming the Café area of the Southington Public Library for the month of May, the young students’ creativity has already raised almost $200 for charity!!

That’s a lot to chirp about! Up for auction now through May 30th: The artists participate in an after school art club called ‘Art for a Cause’. After they create they give ALL their work away to their community. How incredible is that?! For this project, they’ve donated all their birds to the Isthmian Gallery in order to raise money for charities that are important to them. Many students chose well-known nonprofits, others chose nonprofits to honor their peers who have passed away or to support those currently fighting a disease, and several chose local nonprofits in their own communities. To place your bid on your favorite bird and a complete list of organizations to benefit,  visit The Isthmian Gallery website at http://www.theisgallery.org Bidding is easy: visit our website at www.theisgallery.org and register for free by clicking ‘login’, then ‘register now’. Once you have registered, you can see all 42 birds by typing ‘Let Inspiration Soar’ in the search box. Clicking on a thumbnail enlarges the information and allows you to see more, and larger, photos of each bird. Bidding starts at just $10 and 95% of the purchase price goes directly to the student-named charity (the other 5% goes back to the Isthmian Gallery to make it all happen and support our other programs).

None of this would be possible without the dedication of the club’s leaders, Kim Rees and Clare Bean. Both ladies have been volunteering (along with the help of many parents of children in the club) since January 2013 when it was found, through a survey administered by the STEPS Coalition, that there was a strong desire for an extracurricular art activity. While they’ve received some grant money from the Joe and Kay Calvanese Foundation, their local JoAnn Fabrics, and the Isthmian Gallery*, they’ve still invested plenty of their own money (not to mention time & effort!!). Both Kim and Clare have created their own birds that are on display alongside the students. While their birds are not available for purchase through the Isthmian Gallery, they are available for anyone who would like to make a donation to the ‘Art for a Cause’ club by contacting Kim at reeskim@rocketmail.com.

If you live local, or are passing through, be sure to stop by the Southington Public Library and have a peek at the wonderful display that took Kim, Clare and other volunteers countless hours to set up. Inside the library, you’ll not only find marshland, forests and flowering gardens full of beautiful birds, but also a binder that you should definitely look through. In this binder are pictures of each artist with their bird and, written in the artist’s own hand, how they intend to make the world a better place. It will definitely inspire you to bid on a bird or two, if you weren’t inspired already!!

Visit the exhibit in the library café while on display through May 31st.