Rita Howell Column

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Rita Howell

Young artists’ guild supports their art and the Boys and Girls Club

Call it affordable art. If you need something pretty to place on your wall or your desk, I can recommend some young artists who will fix you right up at a reasonable price. A flower picture goes for 25 cents. A picture of a girl is 50 cents. They’ll make a name plate for your desk for 25 cents.

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They’re not really starving artists. In fact, they were enjoying some Gatorade and nachos when I interviewed them on Friday at the Boys and Girls Club.

Caitlin Stanford, 8, Kiana Gleeton, 9, Lakeitha Thomas, 8, and Lynesha Farmer, 9, have formed their own club, the CKLL Club, out of a common interest in art. (The club name is formed from their initials, in alphabetical order.)

The girls immediately began producing art with the idea of selling it. Their organization, it seems to me, might be termed an artists’ guild. Caitlin and Lakeitha are the treasurers. Lakeitha also “keeps up with everything,” the others said.

It didn’t take long for the foursome to come up with another idea: share their profits with the Boys and Girls Club, which has struggled financially in recent months.

“We know they need money,” Kiana said.

So it was agreed that they would give half of their proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club.

They made a sales presentation to the B & G members Friday afternoon.

The thing is, if you order something from these girls, and are delinquent in paying for it, you incur a late fee.

“My uncle hasn’t paid me yet and I’m charging him $3 for a late fee,” one of the artists said.

So far, they’ve sold ten pictures.

The girls are branching out to offer their own line of “Glam Girls” cologne, made by mixing mom’s perfume, dad’s cologne and some mouthwash.

Just ask to see their product list, which also includes some used books and other gift items, all reasonably priced.

If you don’t know these girls personally, you can recognize them by their attire. The CKLL Club has a dress code. On Mondays, they all wear pink, the official club color. Tuesdays are multi-color days. On Wednesdays they wear purple and on Thursdays it’s baby blue or brown and cream. On Fridays, the choice is left up to the individual. But you can be sure they’ll all be wearing some pink.

(If you want to purchase art, see the CKLL Club artists at the Boys and Girls Club in Batesville.)