You just gotta have a little faith! So, I am going on the record today ... in writing ... in The Sun-Sentinel to admit that my husband was right! The Friday afternoon before our student art show deadline, I was in a panic. We had 12 entries for grades K to 12. Should we cancel the student show? Should I push the date out for another couple of weeks? The more I thought about it, the more I stressed about it. He kept saying, “Just have a little faith, and things will work out.”
Well, on Monday morning my prayers were answered as more and more art entries poured into the CARE Arts Center from students who attend seven different schools. At the end of the day on Wednesday, over 130 pieces of art for grades K to 12 were displayed in the CARE Gallery for our judges to view.
These judges had their work “cut out for them” and were impressed at the level of talent from the children of Tallahatchie County. Finally, as a team, we reached a very important decision that we had to give more award ribbons due to the volume of talent that these students had shown. More ribbons also meant more cash prize awards were needed. The CARE Board of Directors agreed to both, and we were ready for our annual Student Art Show awards reception on Friday night.
The student art reception is always one of my favorite events of the year at CARE. As proud young artists enter the building, they are often feeling numerous emotions: proud of their hard work, and anxious to see if they have won a prize all at the same time. Photos are quickly snapped by parents and grandparents alike of these budding artists and their entries.
As each award group is announced, the excitement builds until the Best of Show winner is revealed for the year. However, this year there was a twist to the Best of Show award, because our judges could not decide on one clear winner due to the wonderful level of talent in the show. As a result, Best of Show awards were awarded to Mary Brett Hartley and Farrah James. Congratulations to both of these young ladies!
Thank you to all the students, parents, art instructors, administrators and our CARE after-school students for your art entries in our Student Art Show. A very special thank you to the organizations that financially support CARE to make this annual event possible — the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Ed & Becky Meek Foundation, the Steve Azar St. Cecilia Foundation and the veterans of the USS Tallahatchie County.
Up next, our Summer Camp sessions promise to be fun for all ages. See you this summer at CARE!
