Quick Arts Center, Fourth-Graders
Team Up to Aid Olean Soup Kitchen

There may never be a better opportunity to acquire affordable artwork than at Monday’s silent art auction at St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

The minimum bid for any of the approximately 50 pieces is just $5, and a “buy it now” bid of $25 will secure any artist’s work.

But most pieces will go for more than the minimum and some for more than $25 as bidders find themselves moved more by the tug at their hearts than the pull on their wallets.

Monday’s Art From The Heart silent auction at the Quick Center, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public, continues a collaboration between the arts center and area elementary schools. It’s a partnership that uses arts education as a vehicle for helping fourth-graders make a difference in the lives of others.

The auction will feature art created by fourth-graders at Olean’s East View Elementary School, as well as some works of St. Bonaventure students who have been involved in the project. Winning bidders will take home the framed pieces of art, now hanging in the mezzanine at the Quick Center, and the proceeds go to the Warming House, St. Bonaventure’s student-run soup kitchen in Olean.

This is the fourth Art From The Heart project, a series that started in 2009 when Evelyn Sabina, curator of education at the Quick Center, visited with teachers at Olean’s Washington West Elementary School who were finishing up a project on global awareness. “They wanted to sell their children’s artwork to raise money for an orphanage in Uganda, and I started thinking that it would be great if the Quick Center could host the event,” said Sabina. “I thought it was a terrific opportunity for the elementary students and for Bonaventure students as well.”

Subsequent Art From The Heart auctions, all held at the Quick Center, have involved fourth-graders from other schools who sold their original pieces of art to raise money for the nursery at Olean General Hospital and the Allegany Historical Association.

Art From The Heart’s end product is art, but before the fourth-graders get there they travel a multifaceted educational path. With the Warming House the recipient of this year’s auction proceeds, lesson plans focused on such things as proper nutrition and community service.

“Six students from St. Bonaventure’s Franciscan Health Care Professions program gave the students a presentation on healthy food and nutrition, stressing the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and getting exercise,” said Sabina. The students also visited the Warming House, which provides nutrition and companionship for those in need. “It’s important that the children know where the money they raise is going, and that their philanthropy is helping a worthy cause,” said Sabina.

St. Bonaventure education majors have been involved as well, helping Miranda Armagost, the Quick Center’s education assistant, give art lessons on regular visits to the school.

It all comes together at the auction, which the St. Bonaventure students anticipate as much as the fourth-graders they’ve been teaching. “Seeing the children’s smiles when they hand over their paintings to buyers will let them know they can make a difference in the community,” said Simone Bernstein, a freshman Franciscan Health Care Professions student from St. Louis. “We hope they feel good about their artwork and their nutrition after this event. And we’re hoping for a huge turnout. The Warming House relies heavily on volunteers and donations.”

Many successful bidders will likely be parents or family members of the young artists, and many will donate more than their winning bid, knowing the money supports a worthy cause. “We have had people get a piece for the ‘buy-it-now’ price of $25, then write a check for twice that amount,” said Sabina.

Art From The Heart is just one among many Quick Center arts education programs that impact thousands of schoolchildren each year, said Joseph LoSchiavo, executive director of the Quick Center. “We’re very proud of the outreach program that we’re able to provide in the area, and we’re grateful to the individuals and businesses that support the program,” he said.

This Art From The Heart project is supported by the East View Parent Teacher Organization and The Ink Well Art Supply and Framing Store in Olean.


Pictured, East View fourth-graders Dezmine Adams (left) and Matthew Antonioli work on their Art From The Heart projects with Miranda Armagost (right), arts education assistant at the Quick Center.

Photo and info courtesy of St. Bonaventure University


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