ARTFusion connects visual arts to various fields of study

Artists will join students in showing the importance of visual arts in education today behind the Cape Girardeau Junior High School. The event, called ARTFusion, was started last year by art instructor Dennis Wilson.

ARTFusion is a two-part event. The morning session is for the students and an evening session from 5 to 8 p.m. will be open to the public.

ARTFusion will be set up like an art fair, with 12 stations displaying or demonstrating an art form. The guest artists will have booths and will demonstrate their respective fields, while nine stations will feature students explaining art as it relates to different fields. The science department will show how to incorporate moss and landscaping in art. The mathematics department will explain the equations and measurements necessary for street paintings.

This year's ARTFusion will feature urban stencil artist Peat Wollaeger, sand sculptor Dan Belcher and urban airbrush artist Malcolm McCrae.

McCrae is a recent addition to the art scene in Cape Girardeau, having moved to Southeast Missouri a couple years ago from Milwaukee, but is a veteran of demonstrating art to students and the public.

"What I've done in the past is airbrush programs for at-risk youth in Milwaukee with the Boys and Girls Club," McCrae said. "I would do after-school programs with different community-based organizations. We're losing a whole generation of creative young people, you know, with video games and the Internet nowadays; there's not a lot of things out there that are pushing the arts."

McCrae has taken it upon himself to provide that push in the form of art demonstrations.

"This is really important to me to inspire the next generation of create people, whether it's airbrushing, acrylic, oil or whatever inspires them," he said.

ARTFusion incorporates student leaders as guides during the event. The student leaders applied for the positions and were chosen by Wilson.

"We have about 50 this year, and they are the ones that guide each person through the project so I don't have to be at every place at once," Wilson said. "We took that from the Stephen Covey Leader in Me program, which we were working with in our school."

Wilson said he built his leadership program based on one Covey started, in which every student has some sort of leadership role, building pride and purpose. Covey is most famous for writing "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

"I knew I couldn't get every kid to participate because then I wouldn't have anyone to come and enjoy it, and so I had the students fill out applications to tell me why they would be a good leader and more," Wilson said.

Applying the leadership program to ARTFusion not only makes the event more productive, but Wilson said it also gives the students more responsibility and a sense of ownership.

"I can't tell you how many kids from last year that were seventh-graders that participated as leaders that, in October, were already saying, 'When are you going to have the applications out?' and 'I want to be a part of it this year,'" Wilson said.

Last year's ARTFusion saw more than 1,300 participants, mainly students, and Wilson hopes this year's event draws more of the public to see not only the artists but the hard work put in by the student leaders.

"Last year we had a rainstorm, and it was not during a First Friday event, which I think will help us this year," Wilson said. "The weather is supposed to be fairly nice, too."

After the morning session with the students, there is a break, and then Wollanger, the stencil artist, will be painting with the students and showing them how to do his work.

The event will be outside by the track and the pool area.

"I started off just for [junior high students], and I thought, 'Well, shoot; I've already got all this stuff going, why not show the public what we can do here and why the arts are important to our community?'" Wilson said.