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14: CATCH YOU ON THE UPDRAFT
Sponsor: Mason and Susan McGowin
Artist: Nancy Raia
About the Pelican: This proposal consists of hundreds of small pelicans, hand colored, and put together to make the whole. I asked every group I met over a period of weeks to decorate a small paper canvas pelican. These included 3 & 4 year old home schooled children, many kindergarten and middle school students and advanced high school art students seeking art careers. Art teachers and professors also participated at board meeetings across the state. Whether it was a 3 year old finger swipe or a trained eye, I marveled at the joy expressing oneself brings. Pulling together the collage pieces reminds me of each and every experience; the black and white drawings at Bayside Fine Arts Day, the writings by the creative writers class at Fairhope Middle School, the many finger painters who couldn't wait to leave their mark. The Eastern Shore Art Center is like a spiral of friends, coming together to lift each other higher through their creations, learn new ways of the art process and celebrate different outlooks on life. The creative energy sometimes flies through the air with a palpable excitement when a child gleefully sees their clay piece come out of the kiln, or James Hood hollers Come see what just came out!, or the preschoolers in Ms. Jackie's class sing to me as I walk past What color are you today? Art is a unifying, healing, expressive force. It allows the dreams of our children to fly...on the updraft!
About The Artist: Nancy Raia is an artist, motivator, speaker, teacher and writer. Her favorite topics are creativity, communication, and positively inspiring others. Serving as ABC (Arts Bridging Creativity) Project Director at the Eastern Shore Art Center, Nancy works under grants to bring children to the arts. She has worked in banking, television, insurance as well as acting. She works in acrylic, watercolors, and pen and ink. Her works are on sale at ESAC, and she currently has paintings at Patina in Fairhope; her popular card line is carried at Private Gallery stores and the Obvious Place in Fairhope. Nancy was named as Museum Art Educator of the Year by the Alabama Art Education Association.
About The Sponsor: Long-time residents Mason and Susan McGowin are supporters of the arts in general and more especially, the Art Takes Flight Pelican project.
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