These are the 14 Senior Studio Art Students we celebrated last Friday at the NL-S Art Social along with their teacher, Kari Weber. It was crazy-fun!

The students brought their best pieces and displayed them along with their artist statements and photos of their studio spaces back at school.

They each wore a badge that read, “I’m an Artist. Ask me about my art.” They stood near their work and greeted the public, getting feedback on the work they presented. In my mind, if you ever want to get even with a teenager, put them in a room next to something they did and make them explain it for 3 hours. It was a long time for them, but it went quickly and they earned a lot of stories and had a great overall experience.

The other component of this evening was the ice cream social fundraiser we held in conjunction with the show. Five local potters donated 175 handmade bowls, which we sold and filled with ice cream sundaes.

A local artist club, Creating Art Together (CAT), volunteered to serve the ice cream and toppings–and it was a huge hit! For a mere $20, you got a beautiful bowl, a custom ice cream treat, a friendly smile and a little sass to boot!

Folks were shoulder to shoulder most of the night. We’d planned to be outside — and even open the garage doors — but the weather was not cooperating. It was a full-on downpour most of the evening. But spirits were high and the only challenge we had was umbrella management at the entrance.

Did I mention we had live music? This wandering minstrel wore his show-jacket and a carnation to show respect for the artists and kept a steady stream of fingering going all evening long. Thanks, Ben!

This event was set up by the New London Arts & Culture Alliance, and every dollar raised went to the NL-S Art Department. We ended up raising nearly $3,000 for Ms. Weber to use as matching funds for arts-education grants for which she qualifies. This means we helped her get access to a potential $12,000 in funding for the coming years’ arts adventures!

A big thanks goes out to all who helped, donated, contributed, came to the event and especially those that “asked the Artist about their art.” You all made a big difference! Thank you!