By Ann Marie Bush
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Six Highland Park High School art students used their talents to paint tiny Crocs to help promote art education for Topeka's children.
Danielle Jones, 16, a junior, and Myrissa Bingham, 15, a sophomore, applied a clear finishing coat to their shoes Monday during art instructor Tiffany Pryor's class at Highland Park.
"It's the first year for this," Pryor said of the Crocs project.
Seven community members volunteered to pair up with a student artist to create a shoe, which will be sold during a live auction at the 2009 Art for Kids/Foundation Follies. It will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Ramada Hotel and Convention Center.
Other students who Swiss Rolex Fake participated in the Crocs project were Shelby Frye, Gerardo Cabral, Angelica Baldwin and Adrian Retana, Pryor said.
Community partners are Jack Alexander, Dale Cushinberry, Stormont- Vail Regional Health Center, the city of Topeka, the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, WIBW and Topeka Unified School District 501.
The event is a fundraiser for the Topeka Public Schools Foundation, said Pamela Johnson-Betts, executive director of the foundation .
Proceeds from the fundraiser are used to create opportunities for advanced learning and expression in visual arts for third- through sixth-graders countywide. Funds raised beyond the expense of the endeavor are used for the foundation's Educational Grant program, which gives grants on classroom, school and districtwide levels.
Pandora charmsThe event will include youth art displays, a silent auction of art donated by local artists, a live auction of the Crocs, performances by staff and students, and music by the Topeka West High School jazz combo.
"We have recognized that art is more than just paintings," Johnson-Betts said. "We have jewelry, pottery and then live performances. Performing arts is very important, too ."
Last year's event raised about $15,000, she said.
Lila Bartel's "Sun Worshippers" is this year's featured art, Johnson-Betts said. Each ticket holder in attendance at the event will receive a limited-edition print. Bartel is a teacher at Topeka West High School.
Pryor said her students have been working the past five weeks on the Crocs, as well as painted chairs, pencil drawings and acrylic on canvas. Several other schools also donated artwork for the silent auction, Pryor said.
Oftentimes, USD 501 board members will select students' artwork from the event to hang in the Burnett Administrative Center, 624 S.W. 24th.
Besides painting two Crocs, Jones also painted a chair that will be auctioned at the event.
"It was just a plain wooden chair," she said. "We sanded them, painted them and glossed them."
embroidered patches
Jones worked with Stormont-Vail and the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce to design the Crocs she painted.
"We thought it would be a fun experience to get involved in something like this," she said while wrapping up her Crocs on Monday. "I really enjoy painting."
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