SUMTER, S.C. — Window displays in downtown Sumter businesses are getting decked out with art from all across the community. Art teachers, students and local artists are preparing for Saturday's Walk of Art as part of the Inspire Festival.
"It’s just a fantastic opportunity for everybody to work together to grow the community," event organizer and Sumter High School art teacher Heidi Adler says.
The Walk of Art is coming to Sumter this weekend, which means the windows you’re used to seeing downtown might look a little different.
"It’s a really, really neat experience," Wilson Hall art teacher Tara Schumacher shares.
Teachers like Schumacher, Renee Norton and Rachel Brown have been working with their students to create window installations for all of Sumter to see.
"It’s important for [the students] to be involved and for the students to know the community’s behind them 'cuz that lets them know what they’re doing is important and it makes us feel important that we’re doing something to inspire the community and the children," Brown explains.
Lakewood High School art teacher Elizabeth Stolfa says the collaboration among different classes — and different schools — is inspiring.
"It’s really neat to just to see all the different skill sets throughout from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade as well as local artists, and some of my students are able to just see what they can aspire to be someday," Stolfa tells me. "So it’s not just about our work but everyone’s work and just seeing the creativity throughout Sumter."
Crosswell Drive Elementary fifth grader Aquieria Bethea tells me she’s excited for the walk of art to officially start on Saturday.
"It feels like all your work is going out for everybody to see and it’s like your work is famous or something," Bethea smiles.
"It shows our skill level around our school and it’s something we can all be proud of," Lakewood 10th grader Hunter Daily adds.
It's pride in their artwork, and their community, Adler says
"When you have children that get to start putting their art in installations like what we’ve created here, they grow up as community members because they know what it’s like to be a part of a community," Adler tells me.
A community that’s preparing for this weekend’s inspire festival, which supports Sumter’s arts through ticket sales, which also goes toward funding for project like the window displays.
"It brings people together not only for the event, but kids feel as if they’re bigger, they’re contributing, they’re helping earn money to put back into their classrooms so that they and their other fellow students can create art," Adler says.
The Walk of Art is happening on Saturday, but the art is currently in the finishing stages of being set up and will be on display for about a month.
"I think when you’re creating a classroom and you hang the art on your wall it’s exciting, but when you create something and then everybody else in your classroom or your school is also creating something and you bring it together, it’s so much bigger than you and it’s grand," Adler shares. "And so when you have children that get to start putting their art in installations like what we’ve created here, they grow up as community members because they know what it’s like to be a part of a community."