Various artists from the area all gathered this weekend for the Black Swamp Arts Festival. Representing BGSU were many student organizations who aimed to show their work to the community.
In the Kiwanis Youth Arts Village, one of the largest, and probably loudest, booths belonged to the Student Construction Management Association. The SCMA is a student run organization whose main goal is to network and build relationships within the construction community.
The members of the organization came to the Black Swamp Arts Festival to set up their “Creation Spaces” for the children in attendance. At the booth, children were given the chance to build their very own wooden toy to take home. They were able to choose from several wooden toy models or even bring to life an idea of their own.
“We do the cuts and work like that, but the kids actually get in on the manufacturing portions of it. It makes (the experience) hands on and gets their inspiration going a little bit more,” SCMA member Blake Fox said.
This is the organization’s third year at the festival, and as member Alex Francisco said they have gained an additional 20 feet of space each year that they have returned. Doing the math, that brings their booth to 60 feet for the 2016 festival.
Staying in the Youth Village, the writing and English student organizations also provided activities for the children. Prairie Margins Advisor, Abigail Cloud, offered a look into their organization and contribution to the festival.
Prairie Margins is an undergraduate literary journal that prints poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and art from undergraduates nationwide. They work all year to promote and curate submissions for the release of their journal in late October.
They do various fundraising activities such as Winter Wheat, an on-campus writing festival and Blind Date with a Book to support the endeavors of their organization.
It is their third year downtown in conjunction with other writing-based student organizations such as Sigma Tau Delta, Mid-American Review and the Graduate Writer’s Club.
This year, the organizations were helping youth make what they call “Animal Conversations.” Cloud said the hope is to teach them about personification and how dialogue looks which helps them with their reading later on.
On the opposite end of Main Street, there were many vendors selling various art pieces and sculptures of all shapes and sizes. There, the Two Dimensional Arts Association was nestled in the midst.
This year, they set up a display of artwork from various student artists in the association and also had prints and greeting cards for sale.
Club Treasurer Ashley Julian said it is important to be at events like Black Swamp because it allows the community to see their progress and raise funds for their various trips throughout the year.
The association meets every Tuesday to plan trips, fundraise, talk about inspirational artists and support each other in their pursuits throughout the art community.
Directly to the right of 2-DAA, festival goers could find the BGSU Clay Club. Member Megan Small recalled that the club had been present at the Black Swamp Art Festival since their founding in the late 1990s.
The Clay Club booth sold current and past student work, some of which benefited the Clay Club and some which went directly to the artists.
The money that the club brought in will be going to fund their trip to Toronto and their spring trip to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts or NCECA in Portland, Oregon. Member Emerson DeAngelo said it is a great opportunity for the club members to travel the nation and learn more about their trade.
Other student organizations present included the Student Metal Arts Council, BGSU Print Society and the Student Glass Association.
