The annual Chadds Ford Elementary School Art Show and Sale kicks off 7 p.m. Friday, March 11 at the school. Friday festivities are for adults only, but when the show resumes Saturday, March 12, the entire family can enjoy the professional art on sale to benefit the CFES PTO.
Close to 70 professional artists are scheduled to have works on display in this, the 67th year of the event. Betsy Wyeth started the art show in 1949 when Jamie Wyeth was a student at the school.
The sale is the largest fundraising event for the school’s PTO, with 30 percent of the selling price going to the PTO. For buyers, 30 percent of all purchases are tax deductible. The show averages about $20,000 net for the PTO, said this year’s chairman Margaret Niemkiewicz.
The money goes to a variety of educational enrichment programs, not only art programs but also to technology.
“That’s big at the school,” Niemkiewicz said. “We have a lot of kids who are really into technical creativity, so we’re able to help support that and just really keeping the school as beautiful as it is.”
Yet, she said the art show is more than just a fundraiser: “It’s a destination. People come back every year from different parts of the region.”
The main draw, she thinks, is the art and the chance to meet with all the artists.
A variety of artwork will be shown this year.
“In the main show we’ll have our traditional oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, pen and ink artists and we have four photographers,” Niemkiewicz said, adding, “We have a jewelry artisan in the show this year.”
New this year will be a guided tour of the show during the family-friendly Saturday. Niemkiewicz said patrons would be given a chance to be introduced to the artists and to talk with them. The show opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday and the tour starts at 11.
“It’s one of those things where if you stay and you linger to talk with one of the artists a little bit longer, you can, and then catch up with the group a little bit later. It’s informal, but it’s going to be very informative,” she said.
Also new will be several pieces of student-created art that will be on sale. The idea came from art teacher Susan Smith, according to show publicist Kathleen Serano Vasko.
One piece will be a painting of Chadds Ford Elementary School done by the fifth-grade class. Individual fifth-graders also painted smaller pieces based on what inspires them.
This year’s featured artist is Helena Van Emmerik-Finn and the donating artist is Mary Styer Holton.
Van Emmerik-Finn said that the best show she ever had was when she was the featured artist in 2008.
“It was the best show in my whole career, and I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years,” she said.
Van Emmerik-Finn said she likes the tradition of the show and that it’s an honor to be in it.
The show runs from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, then 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
(Top photo: The year's featured artist is Helena Van Emmerik-Finn, left, with donating artist Mary Styer Holton.)
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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