The young artists of Van Go rang jingle bells on Saturday evening to commence their annual holiday art show and sale.
Adornment has been a seasonal tradition for Van Go, an art nonprofit that focuses on employing youth, for more than two decades.
Apprentice artists create items that are up for sale. The apprentice team consists of 20 young people whose ages range from 14 to 24.
“At Van Go, what you see is art,” but jobs are what they do, Executive Director Lori McSorley said.
Following a short program and then a crowd countdown Saturday, people shopped for ornaments, stickers, magnets and more.
The more than 2,000 pieces of art are displayed in a gallery at Van Go, 715 New Jersey St. in East Lawrence. Artists began preparing in early fall, which gave them an effective time crunch.
“Getting finished with my art was a big thing,” said apprentice artist Christian McSorley, 17.
For many members of the apprentice team, this year’s Adornment was their first time being able to connect with co-workers and collaborate with them.
“We had to combine to make a project together,” apprentice artist Layla Green, 15, said. “Stress made the art more important to me.”
Besides the employment of youth, a key aspect of Adornment is the sense of community and prosperity that it gives the artists, Christian said.
“What’s special is all the different people from all different backgrounds and walks of life that get to come here and make art,” Christian said. “We get to share that with everyone else here.”
Adornment art will be on sale throughout the holiday season. The gallery’s weekday hours will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, starting Tuesday, Dec. 3 and running through Thursday, Dec. 19. Weekend hours for the gallery are as follows:
• 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1
• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7
• 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15
Van Go’s online store is available to shop year-round at shop-van-go.myshopify.com. New products will be added to the online store at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 2.
All proceeds from Adornment go back into Van Go’s programming, according to the website. Visit van-go.org to learn more.
Note: This post has been corrected from a previous version.
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Emilia (Mimi) Rosado Schmitt (she/her) is a junior at Lawrence High School and a co-editor in chief for the LHS Budget, where she edits stories and makes graphics and reports.
See more of her work for the Times here.
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