The Isla Center for the Arts hosted the 19th Annual Art-a-thon, which was open for public viewing through April 14.
The exhibit showcased over 60 artworks and pieces that were selected from 800 students from 22 schools who participated in the 2016-2017 Isla Art-a-thon.
The schools that participated in the exhibit included Simon Sanchez High School, Agueda Johnston Middle School, Harry S. Truman Elementary School, LP Untalan Middle School, and John F. Kennedy High School.
The exhibited artworks were selected by a small committee that looked at elements like perspective, color, shapes, and sometimes the overall theme of the artwork. Chosen participants received certificates and small prizes for overall elementary, middle, and high schools.
The students created remarkable pieces using a variety of methods such as graphite, pastels, colored pencils, ink, collage, mixed media, crayon, watercolors, print, foil relief, and acrylics.
According to Velma Yamashita, assistant professor of Art and coordinator of the Isla Center for the Arts, the exhibit had attracted over 430 visitors.
“It wasn’t too bad, it was better than last year’s [attendance],” said Gi Flores, an assistant at the Isla Gallery.
“The past few years have been a challenge. Financially it was hard to get people involved in the event,” Flores said.
According to a UOG announcement, this year’s Art-a-thon raised over $29,000 with 40 percent of the funds, or $11,000, given back to the participating schools to assist with art-related materials for their students.
Flores said they never have to raise a specific amount of money. The money comes from the work of the student.
“It’s really hard for the kids to have the courage to ask their relatives for donations, so we never pressure them,” Flores said.
The goal of the Art-a- thon is to recognize and promote student’s artworks and achievements, particularly for students at the K-12 level.
“It is our hope that the students not only enjoy creating the artwork but also learn to appreciate art and exhibits,” Yamashita said.
The Isla Center’s next show is the UOG student exhibit, which will run from May 4 to June 23. This exhibit will feature works produced by seniors and other undergraduates.