SHELBURNE FALLS — Paint the town (or, at least color it) at a “12 hour carnival of drawing” — the annual Hilltown Draw-Around on Saturday, April 28, at the Cowell Gymnasium, 51 Maple St.
This fundraiser for the ARTeens program runs from noon until midnight. It is billed as a “pay-what-you-want, draw-where-you-want” event. The upstairs gym is covered in butcher paper, so that participants can free-style draw on the walls or floor for as long as they want. For those who need inspiration, there is a 3D coloring room, Emily Gopen’s meditative mandala floor-coloring page, a wall of community portraits, and a re-creation of an artwork by Buckland’s famous Robert Strong Woodward.
There will also be a mini workshop to learn origami, a late night costumed figure drawing, music performances and a cafe.
The event is by donation, with proceeds going toward the Art Garden of Shelburne Falls’ ARTeens Program, a 20-week afterschool art program for Franklin County Teens. This is a 3½-hour weekly art program, in which families pay what they can and children get art-making time and individual instruction in a studio full of supplies.
Those who come to the Draw-Around are also asked to bring nonperishable food items to help support the West County Emergency Food Pantry, which is located in the lower level of Cowell Gym.
The event is made possible by local artists and by teen, parent and community volunteers. It is also supported by the following local cultural councils: Ashfield, Buckland, Bernardston, Charlemont/Hawley, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Heath, Leyden, Plainfield, Rowe, Shelburne and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Community volunteers are needed to help install the paper, set up tables and activities. On Saturday, they are needed to staff the event and on Sunday, they are needed to help clean up.
For more information, contact The Art Garden at 413-625-2782 or www.theartgarden.org