Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana is committed to helping youth develop their creativity and cultural awareness through knowledge and appreciation of the visual arts, crafts, performing arts and creative writing. Each local Club throughout Porter and Lake Counties have dedicated art centers in their facilities solely for youth to explore their talents in the visual arts by working with different art mediums. To encourage such exploration, and to showcase year-round arts programming, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana holds a local Fine Arts Exhibit each October, in partnership with Southlake Mall, providing a professional venue for the public to view Club members’ artwork. During the exhibit, each organization recruits local artists to judge and name first, second, and third place winners in the following art categories: monochromatic and multicolored drawings; pastel; watercolor; oil or acrylic; printmaking; mixed media; collage; and group project. The exhibit is made possible through received from Indiana Arts Commission; South Shore Arts; and the National Endowment of the Arts.
The Fine Arts Exhibit took place this year during the weekend of October 18 – 20, 2019 at Southlake Mall. To kick-off this cultural venue, parents/guardians; guests; and young artists were invited to an Artists’ Reception. “Our Club members who have artwork in the reception are very excited to see their pieces in such a public venue. We have so many onlookers who take time from their shopping experience to look at and admire the creativity of our Club members. Also, I truly have to thank our professional judges who had a yeoman’s task of placing so much talent into first, second and third place categories. This was not easy this year because the artwork from our Clubs has truly hit a very high, creative and professional level,” says Kristina Balog, regional Club director and fine arts expert for the Boys & Girls Clubs organization.
Southlake Mall provides the perfect venue providing people throughout Northwest Indiana the perfect opportunity to admire the creative works from youth and Teen Club members. All first-place pieces selected in the exhibit will now move to a 13-state regional competition.
“Moving to regional competition always is very exciting for our organization,” Balog states further. “Our Club artists always do very well at this level of competition and we have had many artists over the last few years move on to the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America exhibit. There are only thirty-three (33) pieces selected nationwide that are placed in this exhibit. Boys & Girls Clubs of America cannot thank Indiana Arts Commission, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts enough for their support of and funding for our local exhibit each year.”
About Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana enables young people to achieve GREAT futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Ten Club sites and eleven Kidstop locations throughout Lake and Porter Counties serve 10,000 young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana provides a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. When school is out, our Clubs are in! Learn more about membership, volunteer opportunities, or how to make a tax-deductible gift your local Club at (219) 764-2582, or by visiting bgcgreaternwi.org. Great Futures Start HERE.
