Story by Bridgette McAuliffe, Staff writer
Photo by Nora Crafton/The News
Murray State art students of various organizations hosted their annual Monster Mash art sale outside of the Old Fine Arts Building on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
Members of the Organization for Murray Art Students, graphic design club, National Art Education Association and others sold art to raise funds for student travel: studying abroad and attending conferences and artist talks.
Each organization brought a unique craft designed by their members. The NAEA made postcards as a part of its fundraiser.
Hailey Church, senior from Newburgh, Indiana, helped design and sell the postcards.
“We decided to do postcards because it’s a unique way for us to get ourselves out there,” Church said. “Last year, it was a big hit so we decided to do it again.”
Students raised money for their chapter, creating opportunities for them to attend conferences and pursue teaching opportunities. This is Church’s fourth year in NAEA, where she serves as the chapter president.
“It’s a really awesome organization and we’ve really grown a lot,” Church said.
The group hosted open studio nights for the past two months where members of the organization could come and help design crafts to sell at the auction.
“All of us just come in, do a team-building activity and make art together; just kind of let loose and have fun,” Church said.
Jasmine Groves, sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky, sold T-shirts, hoodies and koozies with the printmaking class.
“We were talking about designs for about a month,” Groves said. “We had to create designs for the class and we chose the best ones to use for this event.”
The process involved the students both designing and crafting all of the items that were sold.
“Planning was really simple, but making everything was a big process,” Groves said. “We had a potluck last week where we ate and printed everything. It was a mess, but a good mess.”
Elizabeth Hall, senior from Grand Rivers, Kentucky, sold buttons and stickers with the graphic design club.
“We met and just sort of bounced ideas off of each other,” Hall said. “We try to look at trends, what’s funny nowadays and try to mix that in with Halloween.”
The club sold stickers of sasquatches on skateboards, anime figures and 1990s references.
“We did most of this during just one Saturday,” Hall said. “We work really quickly. Most of us are juniors or seniors in pretty advanced classes.”
The graphic design club is saving money to see a lecture by influential graphic artist Gail Anderson.
OMAS will be hosting a Pumpkin Fest on Thursday, Nov. 1, where they will be selling pumpkin flavored food and drinks before revealing the winner of the art professor’s pumpkin decorating contest.