The Department of Art and Design held a Holiday Art sale over the weekend at the main concourse in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Students, faculty of Eastern and residents of Charleston stopped by the sale all throughout the weekend while they were attending other holiday events like the Holiday Concert that was in the Dvorak Concert Hall.

Charleston resident Brenda Zanders said this was her first time looking at the Holiday Art sale and that she had come in to Doudna because her family member had a performance.

“I came to see my niece, who I believe plays a flute, but I enjoyed looking at the art work,” said Zanders.

LeAnn Daubs, the art and design office manager, said she has organized the art sale for about three years with the help of a few art professors.

“(In) about September, we start to notify people to come in and bring their stuff,” Daubs said. “Everybody procrastinates, it seems like, so it always seems like it ends up being a last-minute thing.”

Daubs said the people of the community also look forward to the Holiday Art sale and they get excited to shop and look at the things people do.

“I love the enthusiasm of people,” Daubs said. “I love to see their art work because I don’t have an ounce of art in my body, it’s just not in me and to see what some of the ideas people come up with, it just amazes me.”

One of the art pieces at the art sale that was not for sale was a sculpture of a man sitting down that had a semicolon on his back that was placed by Jacob Venatta, a senior at Eastern.

Venatta wrote in a statement placed next to the sculpture that he is working on a sculpture series that focuses on the semicolon used as a symbol of suicide awareness.   

Daubs said this year they had 20 vendors put in all handmade artwork and the local artists who put their artwork to sale were able to go in any of the days to put in more art work to sale each day.

She said the local artists did not have a limit of pieces to put in, unless it was a bigger event where they then would have to limit them.

Daubs said sometimes pieces that seem like they might not sell do sell first, and they do sell a lot of prints and pottery.

She said that with the coffee cups or bowls, people pick it up and she can see that they think it through before purchasing it.

“People, the community, really love the pottery and stuff like that,” Daubs said. “It amazes me how much it sells; there is always a perfect piece for somebody.”

Margie Checkley, a retired librarian from Booth Library, said she has enjoyed the many things Eastern has done for such a small community.

“All the stuff (the local artists do) is unique and you would not find it anywhere else,” Checkley said.

Daubs said this year they have already surpassed what they did last year with having it in a different location than in the gallery room.

She said she encourages other local artists to bring in their artwork to help fund scholarships for the art and design students.

Valentina Vargas can be reached at 581-2812 or vvargas@eiu.edu.