Artsy April Redux
This year the schools’ art teachers graciously bowed out of the Artsy April community art show at the library. And so, my team set out to redefine Artsy April. And, like Decemberley, we decided for now to shift our focus to book illustrators.
Natasia had the strongest idea and drive to focus on Dr. Seuss – specifically The Lorax since we had Earth Day that month, and our state is the home to Arbor Day (and a tree is the focus on our city’s logo). So, credit for this month goes solely to Natasia – she utterly rocked it.
It’s amazing what construction paper, a black marker, and tape can become in special hands.
Side note about construction paper: for some reason, the makeup of construction paper causes it to lose its color in the sun. Natasia remade several of the truffula tree tops midway through the month due to major fading.
he Lorax was a HUGE hit with kids (shocking, I know).
A Heartwarming Story:
One day a little boy was completely smitten with our Lorax. Our awesome Children’s Librarian remembered his name, and on the day we took down the display, we contacted his mom to see if she would like to have our Lorax. Her response was an unsurprising OMG YES!!!! And I was thrilled to be the one who got to surprise that little boy with his very own Lorax. He literally hugtackled it – and I’m amazed that it didn’t rip.
AMAZING UPDATE: Okay, so fast-forward 4 years to a Library Board meeting where we have a new candidate wanting to serve. She’s there and masked-up like the rest of us. When we asked her to introduce herself and why she wanted to serve, her response almost had me in tears. It turns out that she was the Lorax-loving little boy’s mother, and she told that story from her perspective. She said that it was this experience that made her realize what a special community we have, and she’d been looking for ways to give back ever since then. Oh, and by the way, she’s an infectious disease doctor. Cue me falling out of my chair.
So just think of this update whenever you wonder if decorating is worth the time/effort. You just never know what lives you may touch.
a black marker, and feather boas! So. Cute.
For our reading bench display, Natasia created a fun word scramble (the words-in-the-fishbowl changed once-a-week). And we filled the display with environmental, gardening, and tree-focused books.
Finally, Natasia made these adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2 for our super-ultra simple scavenger hunt.
I swear that kids treated Thing 1 & 2 like rock stars – even if they didn’t realize the Thing they found was part of a scavenger hunt. These special Things now live on one of our office walls.
And there you have it: our revamped Artsy April!
