MARS — Several local artists have been given an opportunity few others will experience: the chance to make a scene at the public library.

The scenes achieve whimsy, fantasy and imagination and were created by drawing, painting or decoupaging nearly a dozen chairs, benches, rockers and stools for children.

Chair designs include literary characters like the Cat in Hat, Yertle the Turtle and the Velveteen Rabbit. Also included were princesses and knights, butterflies and a bench with a scene surrounding the famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The seats will be raffled off Sept. 20 at the Take a Seat "Chairity" Raffle and ice cream social. Raffle tickets are available for $2 at the library until that time.

Ruth Ann McCraley, secretary of the library board of directors, said the fundraiser was modeled after a similar event at another library.

"They're really cute," McCraley said of the assorted chairs.

Each of the eight selected artist volunteers was receptive to the project, she said.

"Everyone I called readily agreed — that's really nice," she said. "Everybody has been so willing to help."

On an old rusting grade school desk chair, Maria Leysens of Adams Township painted a dog parachuting from a propeller plane.

Pink roses adorn a low stool with stubby white and pink legs, also designed by Leysens.

"I wanted to do something fun," she said of her designs.

About six years ago Leysens quit her job as a Realtor to pursue painting full time. She now gives art lessons at her studio, Room 101, in Mars.

The library chair project was slightly challenging, she said.

"This is not the way I paint," said Leysens, who typically creates portraits with watercolors or pastels. "Here I really had to think about it."

When Susan Kaminski of Valencia was asked to do a chair, she turned to her kindergarten class at Mars Primary Center for inspiration.

For them, the answer was all too obvious, she said.

Kaminski's chair is a collage of scenes from her students' favorite book series, "Skippyjon Jones" by Judy Schachner.

The title character is a Siamese cat whose head and ears are too big for his body, leading him to believe he is a Chihuahua.

"I love doing this kind of thing," said Kaminski, who taught art before switching to kindergarten.

A self-proclaimed procrastinator, Kaminski said she struggled a bit at first. But her dedication to the library took over and she completed the chair in one night.

"I think the library is very important," she said.

All of the chairs will be on display at the library until the raffle, McCraley said. They will also be on display Sept. 13 at the Adams Township Community Day.

Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the library, which is in the midst of a $485,000, two-phase expansion project.

The 4,500-square-foot addition of a children's library and a community room nearly doubled the size of the existing library.

More than 500 children attend the summer reading program, McCraley said.

The chair designs include a butterfly chair painted by Diane Scheib; a "Cat in the Hat" chair by Gloria Pollock; a Teddy bear stool, a knight stool and a princess stool, all by Cheryl Kennedy; a "Velveteen Rabbit" chair by Erin Sloane; the "Skippyjon Jones" chair by Kaminski; a meadow and mountain scene bench by Linda Frank; a "Yertle the Turtle" stool by Nancy Moore; and the flying dog chair and floral stool by Leysens.

<B>WHAT: </B>Mars Library Take a Seat "Chairity" raffle and ice cream social<B>WHEN: </B>1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 20<B>WHERE:</B>Mars Library, 107 Grand Ave.<B>COST:</B>Raffle tickets are $2<B>INFO: </B>Proceeds benefit the library