Special Reception Announced For SevenDays Kindness Art Exhibit At Plaza Library

Original artwork by high school students in the metro area will be on display as part of the first SevenDays Kindness Art Show, opening Tuesday, Feb. 19 and hosted by the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. The various pieces of student art were originally submitted for the SevenDays button design competition. The exhibit will be on display at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri through Feb. 28 during regular library hours. A special recognition program will take place on Tuesday evening, Feb. 26, from 6:30-8 p.m.; the public is invited to attend the program.

The student artwork reflects the daily themes of the annual week focusing on kindness Love, Discover, Others, Connect, You, Go and Onward. The exhibit includes the winning designs for this year's SevenDays 2019 buttons as well as the work of students whose art was not selected.

SevenDays 2019 (April 9-15) is the signature event of the Faith Always Wins Foundation (FAWF). SevenDays promotes acts of kindness and interfaith understanding through a diverse series of events for the community to engage in. It was created following the 2014 hate crime murders of 14-year-old Reat Underwood, his grandfather Dr. William Corporon and Terri LaManno outside of Jewish facilities.

The Faith Always Wins Foundation and SevenDays is pleased to share our continued interest in the arts for the third year of our button art competition, said Mindy Corporon, foundation founder. We are reaching students in over seven school districts in the metropolitan area and we expect to keep expanding. Fostering students' talents and interests in their high school years, offering them interviewing skills, showcasing their art and engaging them with caring adults is all done with purpose, she said. An engaged, cared for human is less likely to hate another human.

Students whose artwork will be on display include: Shaun Holmes, Blue Valley West (Day One-LOVE); Alyssa Watson, Shawnee Mission West (Day Two-DISCOVER); Bennett Junkins, Olathe South (Day Three-OTHERS); Autumn Zollar, Paseo Academy of Fine Arts (Day Four-CONNECT); Blake Straughn, Shawnee Mission West (Day Five-YOU); Karen Rosales, Shawnee Mission North (Day Six-GO); Olivia Overlease, Notre Dame de Sion (Day Seven-ONWARD); Katelyn Schmidt, Olathe South (SevenDays Make A Ripple Button); Jeovany Gonzales-Guadalup, Paseo Academy of Fine Arts; Cale Chapman, Shawnee Mission North; Phoebe Burke, St. Teresa's Academy; Abby Farmer, St. Teresa's Academy; Tamanna Pant, Blue Valley North; Maddie Peterson, Blue Valley West; Leah Barker, Shawnee Mission West; Colin Fetty, Shawnee Mission West and Suleiman Ezzat Atieh, Olathe South.

The Plaza Library is so happy to host this exhibit in our beautiful space, said April Roy, director of the branch. Libraries are dedicated to celebrating cultures and bringing communities together and there is no better way to do that then through art and kindness.

As part of the SevenDays Kindness Art Show, a Wall of Respect will also be on display at the library. A project of the Jewish Community Center, the Wall is actually a 12.5-foot yurt, or traditional tent, whose exterior walls have been painted by a team of professional artists from the Kansas City area. The massive tent celebrates the cultural contributions of local African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish, Latino/Hispanic and Native Americans.

Following the library exhibit, the SevenDays art will travel to the Jewish Community Center (The J) in Overland Park for its Fire in the ART show, March 24-April 20. Fire in the ART features the work of over a dozen professional artists and student groups. This art show precedes the upcoming FIRE IN THE HEART (April 6 and 7), a production showing how the arts can help us process, heal, and transcend traumatic events, whether they are part of our own lives or the lives of others. Performances take place at The White Theatre at The J; Faith Always Wins Foundation is a sponsoring organization of FIRE IN THE HEART.

The SevenDays 2019 buttons are available for each day and may be ordered, free of charge from the SevenDays website, www.givesevendays.org. Stickers featuring the buttons designers are also available as well as suggested kindness activities and educational events for the community. For more information about all SevenDays 2019 activities, sponsored events and the Faith, Love and Walk on Monday April 15, please visit the web site.

Following the April 13, 2014 tragedy at the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom in Overland Park, Kansas, a group of caring individuals decided that we, as a community, have the power to outshine and overcome such senseless acts of hate. SevenDays is a challenge for young and old, to embrace diversity across race, religion and culture. Through a variety of events hosted each day of SevenDays Make a Ripple, Change the World you will be engaged, enriched and enlightened. Join us in our mission to engage all people to discover commonalities and overcome evil with acts of kindness.

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