The Stark Museum of Art is hosting its “Third Thursday” event tonight from 5-7 p.m. and LCM art teacher Betsy Kaufman will be the featured artist. This event gives students in the community a chance to visit the museum and participate in various artistic activities, which Kaufman will help with.

“What I am truly impressed with is that all the docents, guards and museum staff are at the museum after hours and they have hands-on activities, crafts, live music and even the supplies for kids to go into the galleries to sketch the artwork,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman said she has been to this event before when the Orangefield teacher was featured and she was able to walk around the museum and witness the children creating their own art and participating in the hands-on activities.

“What really touched me was a young girl in one of the galleries, drawing from Georgia O’Keeffe’s ‘Bird of Paradise’ painting and she was doing an amazing job,” she said. “And the fact that our museum has original Georgia O’Keeffe!”

Kaufman said she is not only honored for being picked to be featured at this event, but is also happy for her students whose art will be hung in the museum.

“If you know the history of the museum, local student artwork is not regularly on display, so this is an honor,” she said. “I’m an adult and my artwork has never hung in a museum.”

Kaufman’s advanced students created the pieces that will be on display and she will also have a few students helping her with an art activity for the kids.

“We are in the midst of art contests, so we are limited on the number of pieces we will have on display in the museum,” Kaufman said. “My students have been so busy with contest pieces that are in Orange and Houston.”

Kaufman said her goal for the event is to share the joy of art with the visiting kids and to also have a project together that will help the kids create a quick and nice piece of art. It will have their own personal “hand” in it, so they can leave with a piece of art they can be proud of.

Students who attend this event are allowed free admission into the museum if they are wearing school colors or spirit wear, while general admission will be required for adults. Kaufman said she encourages students and adults to attend and promises that it will be a fun night of introducing kids to art.

“Art is all around us,” she said. “The more you learn about art, the more you appreciate it and realize that it is one of the things in life that requires time, dedication, patience and talent. You may not become a professional artist, but art and design have a way of being part of your everyday life and really can make your life better and more rewarding.”