If the energy of the kids attending the 14th annual ArtWise elementary art show and festival in the Alerus Center could be bottled up and sold, it could be the nonprofit group's most successful fundraiser.
Kids proudly pointed out their artwork, then ran to find artwork done by friends. Since more than 5,000 area schoolchildren selected their own art for the show, there are a lot of familiar names.
The artwork is from about 3,500 elementary and preschool students from Grand Forks, Manvel and Thompson, N.D., public and private schools, plus 1,500 from private and home-schooled students from East Grand Forks and other rural areas.
The event keeps growing. "We could add two to three more rows to probably accommodate 1,000 or more pieces of artwork," said Terry Swenson of ArtWise.
Preschoolers crawled through the rows of art. Caregivers tried to keep up while saying, "don't touch that!"
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's more of a social event for the kids," said Karen Harrie, a mother from Grand Forks, who kept running after her energetic almost-2-year-old son. Grandma Shirley Kresel was toting their stroller loaded up with coats and carrying some "make and take" art projects for her first-grade granddaughter, Jocelyn Harrie, who had an art piece on display.
Brendon Beich, 8, from East Grand Forks, who's a second-grader at Holy Family in Grand Forks school, proudly posed for a picture by his glittery fish multimedia painting. "This one only took me two days, I did this side first then the other half next," he explained. "My hands got messy fast."
His little sister, Malia, who turns 3 next week, hugged him proudly. His brother Ryan, 5, said the artwork was "cool" and that his favorite color was red. His parents and grandmother were visibly proud, too.
"I like to see the different artwork, win stuff and see the horses, too," said Destiny Fitzpatrick, a fifth-grader from J. Nelson Kelly school. She had a clay model on display. She and her dad, Dave, chose some tile mosaics from the fifth-grade class at Manvel Public School as their favorite.
The second day of the three-day art show and festival was a bit overshadowed by a two-hour visit from some four-legged friends Wednesday evening. The world-famous Clydesdale horses drew hundreds of shivering families to the curb to watch the massive animals circle the Alerus Center parking lot in slightly above freezing temps with wind speeds in the teens.
Four-year-old Riese Baker of Grand Forks excitedly pointed out the horses to her father, Blair Baker, who was trying to keep her 1-year-old brother warm by covering him in his own coat. Riese and Blair performed with the Seven Feathers group; she was a dancer and he sang.
Retired Park River, N.D., farmer Arnold Munson also enjoyed the Clydesdales, but said he didn't know much about the art displayed inside. He said art wasn't a course offered when he attended a small country school.
"There's more variety in the artwork, no two pieces are the same," said Mary Kulas, the coordinator of Artists in the Classroom program in the Grand Forks public schools.
ADVERTISEMENT
The performances and demonstrations continue today from 3:30 to 8 p.m. The event is free, but tickets are for sale for some of the demonstrations and "make and take" activities.
Decker can be reached at (701) 787-6754, (800) 477-6572, ext. 754, or cdecker@gfherald.com .
