Donated Student Art will Raise Money to Aid Springfield's Homeless

This is the third year that American International College students have created artwork to donate to Springfield's Friends of the Homeless benefit art auction.  Friends of the Homeless provides shelter and meals to people in need.  They work to find permanent housing for shelter guests and operate 100 units of low-income housing.

Last year, donated AIC student artwork raised a total of $1,025.  Please join us for the fundraising auction on June 18, from 5-8pm, at Hadley Farms Meeting House, 41 Russell Street Rt. 9, Hadley, MA  01035

Here is a selection of student work that will be on display:

3D digital design and text by Ethan Murray

These 3D printed wine glasses represent home because a home is a place where people gather.  Whether it is for a family gathering, a party, a holiday dinner, or just a place where you and your friends can be to have a good time.  Gatherings represent home because it brings people together.  It allows people to reconnect, rekindle, and strengthen current and past relationships.

Digital photograph and text by Kelly Shea

When thinking about the idea of home, I don’t necessarily think of a physical place. For many people, home is an object or a repeated action that creates a sense of comfort.  When taking this photo, I gained inspiration from my mom who drinks a cup of tea every morning before work and at night before she goes to bed.  To her, home is the comfort and sense of security in having that cup of tea before she conquers her day as well as closing off her day with the same action.  For her, it invokes a sense of comfort in the morning and closure at night.  To me, this is what home is.  Home is something that creates a feeling of security within a person and provides and outlet from the stresses of everyday life.

Watercolor painting and text by Katelynn Leclerc

I strongly believe that culture and home have a very strong relationship.  To me home means family.  I come from a very Irish family.  For this assignment I drew the Irish Celtic knot, which is a symbol for family.  In the background I used watercolor to create a light green and dark green mixture, to capture the Irish feel.  Culture is a big part of my family’s life and when we celebrate Irish holidays I feel at home.

Digital photograph and text by Regine Winifred

To me family means togetherness, through thick and thin.  The feelings I feel when I think of home are happiness and warmth.  In my opinion home does not have a look.  No matter where you are, as long as you are with family, you are home.  If I had to give “home” a look it would be never ending smiling faces of my family members.  My photo connects to the theme by showing that togetherness is all you need.

Digital aerial drone image and text by Zach Bednarcyzk

Home is not necessarily a single place. Some people prefer to stay in one place for long periods of time. I like to travel whenever I can, even if its a short distance for a short time. The world is a fascinating place, and that alone is my home.

Digital Photograph by Nadia Ciubotaru

When I come back to the Black Sea in Odessa, Ukraine, I know that I am home.  Although I call the United States my permanent home, the Black Sea will always be my birthplace, as I was born just a mile away from the sea.  This door represents the entrance to the Black Sea, and that is what greets me every time I come back to visit.  The door “Domus Solis” in two centuries old and was designed by Odessa's famed sculptor Mikhail Reva.

In 2001,  just before getting on the plane to New York for the first time, my mom stopped the car and rushed to the shore of the port while pulling my hand.  We arrived at the crashing waves where the water met the concrete slab of the port and my mom put a coin in my hand and told me to throw it in the Black Sea and wish that one day I can come back to the Black Sea and that it will always be my home.  I left the Black Sea at 9 years old and started a new life in the States which is now my home, but I will always have a place in my heart for my birthplace “the Black Sea.”

The door is always open and that to me means that Black Sea’s doors are always open for me and are happy to see me home.