Two weeks ago, my daughter’s school celebrated their annual Art Extravaganza. There was an art walk through the school, an art exhibit, and plays (My daughter performed adorably in her kindergarten play). The school invited parents to contribute art to the art exhibit and auction. The purpose was to show students that people in their school community make art and to raise money for the art programs at the school.

I contributed my “Wire Fences” painting to the auction and my “Hell’s Revenge” painting to the exhibit. I bid on a photo by Bruce and a print by another artist and won the photo. The one I won is actually the black and white print in the picture above. I overheard some nice compliments about “Hell’s Revenge” and “Wire Fences” sold for $45. I feels good to contribute to the community through art. Art has been so positive and integral to my life that I feel it would be a shame to deny any kid the opportunity to experience it.

My daughter’s school is fortunate enough to have the wonderful and talented Bruce Hucko as their art coach. You can see a few of his photos in the pictures. I like to credit him as the person who introduced me to photography. Back when I was in high school, Bruce ran a couple classes called Voices of Youth. One was a radio show and the other was a film photography class. My grandpa gave me his old Olympus film camera when he heard I got into the class and my love of photography began. Admittedly, I didn’t understand all of the concepts at the time, but in my college photography class, the skills I did learn gave me a leg up and everything else finally clicked. As far as I’m concerned, the time I spent learning photography basics and developing in a dark room was invaluable.