Looking for a unique gift this holiday season?
It doesn’t get much more unique than shopping at the Western Illinois University Department of Art & Design Holiday Sale.
This year’s sale runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday Dec. 11 through Wednesday Dec. 13 in Brattain Lounge in the University Union.
More than 30 WIU students’ artwork will be for sale this year, including work by Rivers Ashton, a senior studio art major with a focus in painting and drawing.
“I do a lot of figurative work, drawing the human figure. I love using mixed media and play around with all types of mediums. Like charcoal, acrylic paints, chalk pastel. I do printmaking as well,” Ashton said. “I do just about anything I can get my hands on, and I love being really involved in the process. So it’s always fun to be able to show people what I can do.”
Ashton said people will see a lot of surrealism at the sale.
One of her recent prints was inspired by a trip to New York. It’s a surreal streetscape -- complete with Nathan’s hot dogs, a human-size bird, and the artist herself rendered as a birdlike figure.
Ashton said there will be many prints, paintings, drawings, and holiday cards available.
“And ceramic work. The ceramicists we have at Western are really awesome. So there will be a lot of ceramics as well. And jewelry. We have a metals class and I know that they have made a lot of rings in the past, as well as earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. It’s really awesome and you should definitely come see it,” she said.
Susan Czechowski is a professor of art at Western, and she helps students organize the sale, from pricing it to hanging it.
She said the art sale dates back decades. Originally it was primarily ceramics, but has expanded.
“It’s ceramics, printmaking and jewelry. We get a lot of students that are also selling paintings and drawings, crocheting and knitting, and doing other handmade things,” she said.
Proceeds from the art sale benefit the students.
80% goes directly to them to help with college expenses, and the rest goes to student organizations -- such as the printmaking club -- so students can attend conferences.
Czechowski said another benefit for students is the opportunity to engage with the community about their work.
“One of the biggest skills they learn is if they’re there and they can talk about their work, they can sell so much of their work,” she said. “People really become engaged and know they’re buying art and supporting somebody. And it’s real, it’s not like just going and buying something that’s nameless and faceless.”
Molly Borth’s work will also be featured at the sale. She’s a senior studio art major with a focus in printmaking.
“My art right now focuses on women’s issues and women’s rights, as well as personal things. I do silkscreen printing mostly. I’m experimenting right now with layering the prints. Not just having one piece of paper, but what else I can do with silkscreen,” she said.
In addition to her prints, Borth makes metal and sterling silver jewelry that she brings to the sale every year. Some of it is cast and some of it is made completely from scratch.
“I’ve met a lot of people at the art sale that have come and introduced themselves to us and talked to us about our art. It’s always really fun to meet people. It’s just a very good experience for the business side of the art world,” she said.
Borth said some of her more political work has been popular in recent years.
Cash, checks, and cards are accepted at the sale.
The Department of Art & Design also holds a sale every spring and hosts First Wednesday open studio nights.
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