Promoting art in Auburn is as easy as buying a Valentine's Day card, and it doesn't require as much effort as driving to Hallmark.
The art department's student organization, Association of Visual Artists, is hosting the third annual "Art for the Heart" Valentine's Day card sale tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Biggin Hall lobby.
The cards, handmade by the art students, will be sold for $4, and all proceeds go to an endowment fund to bring distinguished artists and scholars to Auburn, said Barb Bondy, AVA adviser.
Students have been making cards every Monday night in Biggin Hall for the past two months, Bondy said. More than 200 cards have been made by a group of about 12 students, said Vice President Christy Wynne, senior in graphic design.
Making cards on Mondays is fun, Wynne said.
"Usually we have a meeting, play music, get a pizza and work till we're tired," Wynne said.
Some members even work on cards at home, Wynne said.
Cardstock is cut to fit store-bought envelopes, the cards are folded and then the artists decorate them with materials ranging from Sweet Tarts to sticks.
Most of the cards are made using recycled or left over art materials.
Each artist has a different process for card making.
Wynne prefers to make each card one-by-one.
Others prefer to lay out multiple cards and work on them in stages, Wynne said.
One elaborate card took Wynne hours to make.
"For one of my classes we took the toilet paper after the trees had been rolled at Toomer's, and put it in a blender and ground it up so it was really fine, and then we added food coloring and water and took a screen and sifted it," Wynne said.
She made paper out of the mixture, and then stitched "Naturally Yours" onto it.
Liz Barnes, junior in pre-graphic design, uses Adobe Illustrator to make her cards.
Some cards are simple, such as one that has a single Sweet Tart glued to the front.
Others are more elaborately decorated.
Red cotton balls were glued all over the front of one card, and on the inside it said, "Warm Fuzzies."
President Raven Wilson, senior in art, uses cold water dyes on her cards.
Many of Wilson's cards have abstract dye work on the front and are blank on the inside.
For one of her cards, Wilson said she put lace on the card and spray painted over it to make a pattern.
Wilson said she tries to retain her personal artistic style in all of her card making.
"It's good to know the cards will brighten up somebody's day," Wilson said.
The goal for the endowment fund is $25,000, and in years past, the cards have brought in more than $600 a year, Bondy said.
AVA will also be selling T-shirts for $15, buttons for $1, heart magnets for $3 and other items.
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