Muddy Creek guild supports student art programs
For its annual holiday show and sale, Gifts from the Arts, at the South River Colony shopping center, the Muddy Creek Artists Guild also invited all nine south county elementary schools to participate.
In a gallery set up just for them, Lothian, Davidsonville, Central, Central Special, Edgewater, Mayo, Shady Side, Deale and Tracey’s elementary schools have on display beautiful, collaborative works of student art. Last weekend, the guild hosted a reception for the young artists who participated.
Fourth-grader Sophia Manofsky proudly showed off a black and white canvas called “Night Owl” created by the Davidsonville Elementary School Art Club, a group of fourthand fifth-grade students who meet before school to enrich their art experience.
They may meet early, but “I like it,” Sophia said of the club.
Tracey’s Elementary art teacher Douglas Elmore took a different approach. He got the entire second grade involved in a canvas called “ABC — Abstract Blue Crab.”
“The project started with a discussion about community, about symbols, and about colors,” Elmore said.
In preparation for the collaborative project, Elmore found an image of a blue crab and gridded it into 80 blocks. After the discussion, each student was given a tile to recreate one of the grid blocks. In the end, the blocks were assembled on a canvas to recreate the image of the crab.
For the past three years, the guild has supported artists and art programs in south county schools with scholarships. To continue their support of the arts in schools, all of the student art work at the show, and six different “baskets of art” are being raffled to benefit the elementary school art programs.
Visitors may place their tickets in a box underneath the artwork(s) of their choosing. There will be a winning ticket from each box. Tickets are $5 each, three for $10 or seven for $20.
“We already raised $2,000 at our spring show and hope to match that during this show,” said Jennifer Heinz, the guild’s immediate past president.
The Gifts from the Arts show continues through Sunday, providing an opportunity to “shop local” for the holidays. More than 50 local artists are showing their newest creations at the show which features the works of member painters, potters, photographers, fiber and glass artists, woodworkers, mixed-media artists and more.
And for those who find inspiration viewing the work of the emerging and professional artists, the guild brings Studio Intrepid, a free, hands-on exploration of art, in the student gallery, from 1 to 4 p.m. today and Sunday.
Show hours this weekend are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
South County is Kind
Last week, many families from south county attended a free event at the Deale Community Library hosted by South County is Kind. The event included the reading of “Kindness Elves” by Anna Ranson and Benjamin Byrne, and “What Does It Mean to Be Kind?” by Rana DiOrio.
Harper Reese, Toni Eberly and Lillian Martin, Girl Scouts from Troop 1186, helped attendees sign in. Robin Lawrence, Erin Mae Hill and Jaylin Sellman, National Junior Honor Society members at Southern Middle School, helped younger children complete kindness bracelets and other crafts.
Parents and children painted kindness rocks to be left for others to find — one was found on the librarian’s desk, and one was reportedly found in a Little Free Library in Franklin Manor.
South County is Kind founder Sarah Blaser organized the event, inspired by Kristen Caminiti’s organization, Kindness Grows Here, in Crofton, which has helped to spread the message of the power of kindness and tolerance.
Lights of Kindness
Lights of Kindness, sponsored by the Rotary Club of South Anne Arundel County, returns to Homestead Gardens through Sunday. Tour the holiday forest at Homestead Gardens and vote for your favorite tree, or the charity it represents. You can also vote online at www.rotarylights ofkindness.org/voteforatree.
All proceeds will benefit the designated charities and Rotary Club of South Anne County’s Bountiful Backpack Program, providing weekend food supplies to elementary school children.
Reading tutor training
Start the Adventure in Reading, with 10 sites in Anne Arundel County, is organizing an 11th site at Lothian Elementary School. STAIR is an after-school tutoring program for second graders who need support with reading fluency and comprehension skills.
No experience is necessary. All tutors are required to attend a two-hour training session. There will be a training session at Lothian Elementary from 4 to 6 p.m.. Wednesday, and an additional training session in early January.
For more information, contact voluntercoordinator@stairannapolis.org.