Simply FAB-ulous
BUTLER TWP — It's the 10th anniversary for the Fine Arts and Beyond, that's FAB, Showcase, at Butler Intermediate High School.
The free, communitywide arts and music festival attracted more than 1,500 people in 2012, including families, school district staff, business owners and vendors. The one-night event raised nearly $60,000 to benefit students.
“The best part is to see all the kids,” said Erich Campbell, an intermediate school art instructor and chairman of the art department, which gathers artwork from students in kindergarten through senior high school for the event.
“The best thing is to see such a positive event focused on kids,” he said.
In the 1990s, the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation funded four $500 student scholarships, said Lisa Konesni, a foundation board member who was instrumental in developing the FAB Showcase.
The event got its start when foundation board members wanted to host an event that would raise money for creative teaching grants and highlight the arts through students' artwork, she said.
The FAB Showcase was born. Dick and Jane Rittelmann were its chairmen for its first four years.
Now, the FAB Showcase funds 35 student scholarships for $1,000 each, part of the 56 scholarships awarded to Butler High School students in 2012.“You can tell that the students are really appreciative by the thank-you notes they write back,” said Konesni.The FAB Showcase also funds $15,000 for creative teaching grants. Creative teaching grants are competitive awards that allow teachers to fund special projects such as orienteering and acting classes.Money is raised from a variety of sources.First is the juried art show where 400 pieces of art donated by students in grades nine through 12 are sold in a silent auction that raises about $2,500, said Campbell.In addition, sponsors donate up to $10,000 toward the event, raffle tickets are sold for prizes that run from $250 to $1,000, and other ticket are sold for about 20 gift basket raffles, he said.The showcase is the only annual fundraising event for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation.“This is pretty much it,” said Konesni.
The festival also includes elementary and junior high school art shows, performances by several of the district's choruses and bands, demonstrations by professional artists, children's activities and food.The student artwork for sale includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, photography and graphic artwork and mixed media pieces.“I explain to (my students) that you do artwork for yourself, for your friends and family and for a cause,” Campbell said.He credits four groups for the event's success: the district's art department, the foundation, students and the community.“It has to be all four,” to be successful, he said.At the senior high school, Jon Pugliese and Ann Wilson share teaching duties for seven ceramics classes and two painting, two drawing and one studio art class.“We never thought that it would be that big,” Pugliese said of the show. “It snowballed.”Pugliese, who paints in oils and acrylics, donates a painting for sale each year, as he encourages his students to do.“Students give pieces they've created and make more especially for the show,” he said.One student, Alie Hutchison, a senior and president of the art club, has donated three pieces this year.
Along with other art club students and volunteers from the National Honor Society, she'll hang the show.She'll also set up a table to sell jewelry, mainly bracelets and key chains she makes from paper beads, and then donates the money she earns.“Sometimes (at the show) you see the best work and it's like, 'Oh wow, I didn't know my friend could do that!'” Alie said.Sydney Mincer, another senior, also has donated several pieces to the show.Pugliese is impressed with Sydney's free-form sculptures, which he calls “memorial sculptures.”“It's a whirlwind magic spot,” said Pugliese of the show. “It's hung the night before and by the next day everything is put back in place to prepare for class.”Across the hall, Wilson was in her classroom talking to a pottery student about the glaze on his pot.“It's the clay that contracts and makes the glaze crack,” Wilson said, explaining the use of clear glaze over marbelized clay.Although her out-of-pocket budget for supplies is less than half of what it was 17 years ago, she said she believes classes are still high quality.“We're artists. We think outside the box,” she said of her “reduce, reuse, recycle” philosophy adopted to save taxpayers' money.
“We have over 50 projects for the FAB show,” she said. “I've told students to donate their best work and buy it back.”Joe Kienzle, a senior, hopes he wins the bid for work he donated.“Hopefully, I'm going to buy it back because I really like it,” he said.When it began, the FAB Showcase took up one hallway of the intermediate school. It's grown to consume the entire first floor and the library, where the gift baskets will be raffled.“I think the students just love showcasing their work,” Wilson said. “FAB is something positive. People love giving back to the community.”<B>IF YOU'RE GOING</B>What: The FAB Showcase, a community arts and music eventWhere: Butler Intermediate High SchoolWhen: 5:30 to 9 p.m. April 20Why: To showcase student arts and to raise money for the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation
