Student Art and Cereal Make for Special Night in Holly
(Crystal A. Proxmire, April 21, 2019)
Holly, MI – Using brushstrokes of blue,  green, and black, seven-year-old Matthew Flores quietly focused on painting a bowl while an school building full of kids and parents – many extra lively from the cereal buffet in the next room- buzzed around him.
Holly Area Schools kids from all grades and their families gathered at the Karl Richter Community Center in Holly Monday for the Annual K-12 Art Show and the Empty Bowls fundraiser supporting Blessings in a Backpack.   The included a cereal buffet (with Lucky Charms and Kix) among the tasty selections.  Plus guests could buy a clay bowl that had been made and painted by students, or they could paint their own, and the proceeds went to a program for local volunteers to send schoolkids in need home with a backpack full of food to help them through the weekends.
Artwork lined the hallway leading to the the sweet fundraiser.  Grades, ages, styles, and schools were spread out – giving parents and kids the fun of finding their pieces among dozens of other interesting paintings, drawings, sculptures and more.
Flores, a first grader at Davisburg Elementary, said blue and green are his favorite colors.  “I painted at home before,” he said.
His parents, Krystal and Matt, enjoyed the event.  Krystal went on a quest to find the perfect bowl – picking a heart-shaped one that said “I love Holly” on the bottom.  Matt sat by his son painting a bowl of his own, focusing on swirls of earth tones.
“We paint together and we play drums,” said Matthew when asked what other art he and his father do.
Matt said the event was good for his son.  “It helps socializing with people, standing up and asking questions,” he said.  “He saw some old friends too.”
As an artist as well, Matt knows the value of encouraging art in young people.  “I love art,” he said.  “It’s the most stress relieving, relaxing thing you can do.”
The event gave students and families from across the district a chance to mingle and be inspired by each others’ work.
Learn more about Holly Area Schools, including the Blessings in a Backpack Program, visit www.hask12.org.