Art students spread their love of aesthetic creations to all who came to the Valentine’s art sale on Friday, Feb. 9, in the Center for the Visual Arts.
Members of four student clubs excitedly staffed tables displaying their artistic masterpieces, ready to sell them to the public. This sale is one of the many ways Kent State University supports its students in the School of Art.
Shoppers could choose from various items and get all their Valentine’s shopping done in one place. The selection at the sale included ceramic and glass pieces, handmade jewelry and prints.
“This is a great opportunity for the club this year,” said Echo Davis, a junior studio arts major and president of the Kent State University Ceramics Club. “We're trying to fundraise for the NCECA Conference that we are going to in March.”
NCECA, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, hosts a ceramics conference every year. During the conference, students will be given the opportunity to share and learn about the changing ways to teach, learn and create through clay.
Along with fundraising for their clubs, other students used this sale to gain practical experience with selling their art.
“It definitely gives you some marketing experience,” said Sydney Kaster-Oftedal, a senior studio arts major and president of the Kent State University Glass Club. “It teaches you about the value of your own work. And especially like ‘okay, I use this thing with this color that cost more money. So, I have to charge more for it.’”
This practicality helps these young artists stand firm in their pricing and figure out what price point is reasonable for their art through this real-world experience and feedback from others.
“If you're selling your work at this point, you kind of get through your underpricing phase before you are making more money,” Emerson Fry, a senior fashion design major, said. “Last year people at other tables were like ‘No, you need to bring your stuff higher.’”
Overall, the sale helped support the student artists of Kent State through gaining entrepreneurship skills, raising funds to continue improving their craft and building community with those around them.
“It's a really fun way to build community and entrepreneurship skills. Even if it's just setting up a little table, everyone had a responsibility to make stuff, sell stuff and inventory things,” Mario Arteaga, a graduate student in the College of the Arts, said. “It's just a cool teaching moment.”