Jean Austin, 79, Winona Lake, painted a sailboat in bright acrylics that was entered this summer in open class competition at the Kosciusko County 4-H Fair. Photo provided by Darla McCammon.

By Darla McCammon
and DeeAnn Muraski
Guest Columnists

WARSAW — This week, we take a break to bring you information about the art in the annual Kosciusko County 4-H Fair.

You may be surprised to know how much quality art was on view and how many entries from Kosciusko artists competed for great prizes.

Many people assume this is only a children’s 4-H event; but anyone, any age, can enter and compete for prizes in categories that cover a multitude of arts, crafts and woodworking.

The fine arts category is broken down into class sections. Class 1 is for for oil, watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, pencil or charcoal, pastel, sculpture and mixed media. Photography also has its own category with 16 classes as well as classes for juniors (ages 11-17) and youths (ages 10 and younger). You can access the Purdue Extension book, which is separate from the fair book, at https://extension.purdue.edu/county/kosciusko for the comprehensive listing so you can be ready for next year.

The 4-H students have excellent entries that are displayed in the Shrine Building during the fair. The exhibits we are discussing can be found in the Home and Family Arts Building, previously the Women’s Building. These exhibits are considered open class, which means that all ages and abilities are invited to participate.

Perhaps the best way to explain this opportunity to those who have not been aware is to tell you this is a great way to get your work examined by an outside party who will judge and provide constructive comments. Entering will help you become better at your art or craft each year, and the judge or judges just might pick your work to win a third, second, first or grand champion ribbon. Some categories even have small cash awards donated by local businesses that support the arts. Since there is no charge to enter, you will find this experience very pleasant, interesting, educational and fun.

This year, there were a number of entries from Grace Village Retirement Community in Winona Lake. They have a program there called “ARTcare.” This was a wonderful time to see the work being done by the residents. We were particularly impressed with a sailboat entered in category 102 and painted in brilliant acrylic by Jean Austin, age 79. The ARTcare artists received many third, second and first place ribbons.

The mission of ARTcare is to provide a program for Grace Village residents to create art, discover and share their talents and socialize with peers. They definitely did an exceptional job at the fair, and we enjoyed seeing the caliber of talent we have locally that is still being tapped. We look forward to seeing more of their work next year.

Events

Do not forget to visit the interesting exhibit by Sam Hoffman at Warsaw City Art Gallery. His talent for incorporating historical elements into his paintings is unique and refreshing. As a reminder, it is free to exhibit for artists and the artist retains 100% commission of anything sold. The address is City Hall at 102 S. Buffalo St., downtown Warsaw. The gallery is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except for holidays.

Darla McCammon is an artist, columnist and author who leads the weekly Art in Action column, and DeeAnna Muraski is executive director of Operation Read USA Inc. For information, call (574) 527-4044 or send an email to [email protected].