By Gwen Sour
For The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Parkersburg – Families, artists and community organizations gathered Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center for this year’s Art-O-Rama, a free community arts day that also coincided with several other events happening throughout the building.
Jessie Siefert, managing and education director at the Parkersburg Art Center, said the center hosted multiple activities at once, creating a day focused on creativity and community engagement.
“We have four events going on, really,” Siefert said. “It is Art-O-Rama, which is our free community arts day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., where we invite in many organizations that work with families and children, and they help us put on about 15 make-and-take arts and crafts projects.”
Art-O-Rama featured hands-on craft stations throughout the lower and main levels of the building, where children and families could create projects with guidance from local arts and community groups. The event was supported in part by funding from the Virginia L. Neptune Foundation.
As part of the day’s activities, the center also raffled off an opportunity to receive two free weeks of its Camp Creativity summer program.
Siefert said the event was designed to give families opportunities to explore art in a welcoming environment while connecting with organizations that serve children and families in the region.
Alongside the free activities, the art center hosted its annual “Yart Sale,” a fundraising event featuring donated artwork, supplies and craft materials collected from community members throughout the year.
“All year we’ve been collecting wonderful donations from the community, a lot of art and art supplies, and we are selling that today as a fundraiser,” Siefert said.
The building’s upper floor was dedicated to the sale, while Art-O-Rama activities filled the lower levels.
Saturday also marked the opening of two exhibits. The Children’s Toy and Doll Museum opened a temporary display in the Harbor Gallery, featuring a collection of toys and dolls that organizers hope will remain on display for several weeks.
Additionally, a new exhibit opened featuring paintings by Williamstown artist Marge Teague, who Siefert described as a local painter with decades of work in the region.
“She is a woman who I believe is now in her 90s, but she’s been a well-known painter in the area for decades,” Siefert said.
Community groups also participated by hosting their own creative activities during Art-O-Rama. Suzy Gunter, director of the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet Company and Academy, led a craft where children created small ballerina figures using popsicle sticks.
“We’re making ballerina stick figures out of popsicle sticks, and they’re so cute,” Gunter said. “They’re having a wonderful time and doing a great job with them.”
Gunter said the project connects visual arts with the performing arts and reflects the organization’s own programming.
“Besides doing ballets and offering lessons, we also have a camp that we do visual art, dance, music and theater for children,” she said. “That inspired us to help them do this and make them love dancing.”
Information about the ballet company and its camps can be found at movballet.com.
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