Middle school looking to feature student art in local businesses

LANDRUM — Landrum business owners may soon be able to adorn their storefronts with some unique pieces of art — created by the area’s next generation of creative minds.

Landrum Middle School Principal Tucker Hamrick spoke to the members of the Landrum Area Business Association Tuesday morning, where he asked local businesses to begin featuring his students’ artwork. The administrator said the school plans to start reaching out to local business owners in the spring to see if they would be interested in displaying paintings and drawings created by sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students.

Each work will be framed, with administrators paying for the work using money given to the school by the Landrum Quilters, which uses the middle school for the organization’s biennial art show.

Hamrick said the displays would give the community a chance to appreciate the students’ works, which might otherwise be simply graded by instructors before the artists take their creations home.

“A lot of artists from Landrum Middle School have gone on to become artists in their own right  once they graduated from high school,” Hamrick said. “Some of the work that we see is ridiculously good — it’s so good, we don’t want to give it up.”

The art display would be temporary, with a new rotation of artwork going up around town every year, Hamrick said. The creators will have a chance to take their work back with them at the end of the public display.

Though visitors will not be able to purchase the student artwork, Hamrick will look into possibly creating reproductions of the displayed pieces in the event someone was interested in obtaining their own copy.

The principal also said that the school may consider organizing field trips for students to check out the galleries of local artists, in order to allow them to experience the vibrant creative community in their own backyards.

Those interested in having student artwork featured at their business may call Landrum Middle School at 864-457-2629 or may email Hamrick at Tucker.Hamrick@spart1.org.