West Lafayette Branch Library art display is a group effort
Hopewell Industries artists who will have their projects displayed at the West Lafayette Branch Library through the month of July are left to right – sitting: Dorothy, Rita, Judy, Sharon, Doug, Samantha; standing – Beth, Casey, Rob, Michael, and Kyle. Jen Jones | Beacon
COSHOCTON – When you visit the West Lafayette Library in July, you won’t see just one artist’s work, but instead an entire group. Art from the Hopewell Industries art class will be on display through the month and every artist is very excited to have his or her work in a “real art show.”
Angela Higby, program coordinator at Hopewell Industries, said having the employee’s art displayed is a wonderful idea. “This shows the community their creativity and the time they spend on their projects. It’s a great form of self-expression and also shows what we do here.” She also stated that the art showcase is a great community outreach and can be educational for people. “Art shows their ability, not their disability.”
The cafeteria at Hopewell is decorated with hand painted vases, flowers created out of different materials and butterflies made from hand prints of the employees. The artists were excited to share how they made their projects and to talk about the art they have in the show. They were also excited to share that one of the rocks they painted is now hidden in the Dominican Republic for someone to find and tag them on Facebook.
Dorothy likes to try anything. She had fun throwing paint at a canvas and then sprinkling glitter on it. Beth likes to paint butterflies. Samantha does abstract art. Rob said he likes to use brown, orange, pink and blue paints on his art. Doug loved throwing paint to make an abstract picture and used lots of blue paint. He also said he didn’t get any paint on himself.
Casey painted butterflies with green and red paint. Jessie’s picture is of a rose and a butterfly. Judy threw blue paint and laughed when she thought about how much fun she had doing it. Sharon added lots of details and colors to her picture of flowers. That’s her favorite thing to paint. Rita agreed that flowers, especially tulips, and people were her favorite. Many of the employees volunteer at Roscoe Village and Clary Garden and paint what they see when they visit.
Mary Robertson is one of the staff at Hopewell that leads the art class. “I’ve been a freelance artist for many years and my dream is to find a business that would let me paint a mural and have the clients from Hopewell help me finish it. They are so talented and it would be an awesome experience.” She said many of the employees are very capable of completing a project like that.
All of the artists are hoping people will go see their art and that they will like it. Hopewell is planning to take the artists to the library to see their work on display. “We’ll be adding pictures to our Facebook page, so be sure to check that out,” said Higby. “You might be surprised to see everything we do here.”
Category: Arts & Entertainment
