Goshen College student artists will sell their work in the first floor connector during Reading Day. The Student Art Sale has been a finals week tradition for the last 30 years at GC, taking place twice a year.
The Student Art Sale provides an opportunity for student artists to showcase their work for the GC community and make a profit in the process. In the past, items for sale have included ceramic goods, knitted apparel, greeting cards, sculpture, drawings and paintings. Maddie Gerig, a junior, described the sale’s pricing as “ridiculously inexpensive.”Randy Horst, professor of art, noted that the work for sale will not be limited only to art majors.
“Sometimes artists sell things they’ve made in classes, but other times they specifically make things for the sale,” he said. “Some students use the sale as a fundraiser for special causes.”
According to Irina Gladun, a first-year and one of the students who organized the event, “The art sale is an incredible opportunity for artists to gain recognition in the community and build their ‘street cred,’ if you will.”
Gerig said, “We can buy junkanywhere: a cheap pair of earrings or a mug at Target or wherever. But when you buy something from an artist you know, someone who spent hours working on that thing that you’re holding, you create a surprisingly intimate connection.”
Gerig added that all of her artwork contains bits of her identity. She said, “It’s my vision, my creativity, my time, my hands. That’s true for all artists and all of our GC artists.”
In addition to the visual art for sale, the event will feature live entertainment from what Gladun referred to as “some Goshen favorites” including Abe Medellin, a first-year, James Lang, a junior, Prashansa Dickson, a senior, and Avery Martin, a senior.
While the art sale typically takes place in the Union, this year’s committee decided to move the event to the connector in hopes of higher attendance.
Gerig said that it is important for people to come to the art sale because it is “the opportunity where the rest of campus gets to see what we [artists] have been holed up working on all the time.”
Gladun discussed the importance of hosting the event in an accessible location so that student artists receive as much support as possible. She said, “The added allure of the proximity to Java Junction should be helpful.”
The Student Art Sale will stretch from 12-5 p.m. on Monday, April 18 in the first floor connector between Kratz and Miller residence halls.
