Student Artists Become Entrepreneurs for a Day at the Arts Fest

A number of Friends School summer campers, students and alums were present at the downtown Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Children's Day.  The campers were participating in activities on the lawn of Old Main, where face painting was one of the most popular activities.  Several students and alumni were set up for exhibition and sale of their work.

Rising fourth grader Liam had a draw for window shoppers: "Sure, you can try the wands and pick them up."  The enterprising-crafter made no claims or guarantees about the efficacy of his hand-crafted wands made with wood and other found and recycled materials.  The lack of promise didn't seem to deter would-be buyers.  Unfortunately, Liam blinked at the snap of the photo below.  Perhaps that blink was a cover to hide the twinkle of magic in his eye as he described the potential of the Potter-like wands to curious customers. By festivals end, Liam sold out!

Mattie got busy right after graduation in June, building her varied stock for this year's festival.  She returned to the youth sidewalk sales this year with her popular stencil T's and succulent gardens; and added a collection of original art.  Mattie's creativity and success in past years served as inspiration for a trio of younger students who created their own variation of T-shirts to go along with their hand-poured scented glycerin soaps.  Rising first grade student Camille (below), practices some amazing customer service skills in describing the way the T-shirts were designed. (Not pictured, but equally engaged: partners Clarisse  and Arden, both entering third grade).

Friends School alum Sergio named his new jewelry collection after a Kingfisher seen in his backyard.  With inspiration from his mom, who has made and sold jewelry, he settled on the idea of leather cuffs, charms, and pendants, stamped with initials and affirming words like hope, sing, free, kind . . .

The stamps he used were on display in a wooden box with a patina that looked as if they were from the distant past.  It turns out hey belonged to his great-grandfather.  Perhaps that's why the new jewelry looked like it came from the hands of a wise, experienced crafter.

---