LAC Garage Sale

LAC Garage Sale - another successful fund-raiser!

Following two days of delivery of donations for this year's garage sale volunteers began work sorting and pricing all the items to prepare for the big sale on Friday and Saturday.

The garage doors opened at 7:30 on Friday morning. By the time volunteers Loraine Miller, Anita Lamprell and Marje Walsh arrived at 8:00 am, customers had piles of merchandise ready for check-out. 

 

 (An ongoing question was: how much for that 1948 Ford truck?!)

 Volunteer Loraine Miller greeted everyone with a smile as the shoppers continued to come all morning.  Top priority was to get first pick at all the art supplies! 

We did a brisk business for the entire two days.  By the time we closed at 2:30 on Saturday, there was very little left.  From the comments received through-out the two days, it was obvious this wasn't JUST a garage sale.  It was a way to support the Arts Council and it's efforts to promote community artists.  Several people said "keep the change" or " I didn't really find anything to buy, but may I leave a donation for LAC?"

Some wonderful stories emerged as to why people were shopping:  one lady was the librarian on a Native American reservation - she bought boxes and boxes of children's books and computer games.  Two high school age girls bought very large canvases for an art project they were working on - throwing paint-filled balloons at the canvas to watch the colors merge and drip.

A very special thanks to all our volunteers: to Ann Quinn, Ellie Walker, Tracy Wilson and Carol Schutz for sorting and marking all that stuff; to Loraine Miller, Anita Lamprell, Marje Walsh, Anne Marie Butler, Arlene Krogstad, J Bisant, Liesa Malik, Cindy Ahrenkiel for working at the sale....and special thanks to Jan Casper for being a "regular" during all of the sale! And of course a big thank you to everyone who donated or shopped at the sale, helping us raise over $1,200 for LAC!

Artwork from the Art and Soul

Art and Soul is a program of the Developmental Disability Resource Center (DDRC) serving people with developmental disabilities (mental retardation and other disabilities) in Jefferson County, explains the program description from the DDRC.  It is a collaboration of the arts community, human service agencies and individuals who have developmental disabilities.  This collaboration draws on existing community resources and talents to develop mentor partnerships with area artists and gives participants a chance to showcase their work.

For the month of August the Lakewood Arts Council Gallery generously offers exhibit space to the students of the DDRC’s Art and Soul program.  In the downstairs LAC Members’ Gallery, works by Leila Spencer, Jennifer Thompson, Danny Londono, Henry Lopez, Ed Cox, Sharron Willerton, Ron Langley and Mary Schafer are on display for the public to view.  The students will be transported to the galley by Lakewood Rides when classes resume in mid-August so they have the opportunity to see their works hanging in the gallery.

The Art and Soul class is held at the Clements Center in Lakewood once a week and is taught by mentors Marje Walsh, Gail Firmin, Myron Ekberg, Paul Gesso, Jim Rothrock and Andy DuBois.  With this many mentors, nearly one on one instruction is possible. Using their own materials, students are instructed in watercolor techniques, sometimes all working on the same subject in a group lesson, sometimes on individual projects of their own choosing, later to be framed and hung at the Clements Center in a temporary exhibit or given as gifts to their lucky friends or relatives, or just to keep for themselves.  One student has become quite proficient at painting frogs and has a waiting list of collectors!

Class time involves coffee, snacks and socializing followed by a lesson provided by one of the mentors, then time to apply what has been learned.  Topics range from learning about different materials or new products and their effects, to value studies to trying new techniques such as pouring.

         Last year's reception with students and mentor, Jim Rothrock

We have a lot of fun in class and have made new friends while receiving an education in painting.  Come on out to the LAC Gallery to see the impressive artwork of these very special people.