Morgan Webb

The pieces of art on display in the Dunn Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday evening were no works of Monet. But to be special, they didn't need to be.

Instead, the Boys & Girls Club Fine Arts Exhibit was a time to celebrate art and each other, said Darlene Williams, art teacher for the Boys & Girls Club of Nash/Edgecombe Counties. This is the first year the local chapter held the event, in which the artwork of several children, ages 5 to 17, were hung in the building's Civic Gallery. It also was a chance for the club to launch its "It Only Takes One" fundraising campaign. This is the second year the Twin Counties club chapter is participating in the drive. Locally, the goal is to raise $100,000 for the group's budget, said Matthew Esterline, development coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Nash/Edgecombe Counties. The group raised $60,000 last year. "The overall idea is, if everybody in town donated $1, we'd never have to worry about fundraising again," Esterline said. The Twin Counties club chapter has locations in Rocky Mount, Nashville, Pinetops, Princeville and the Battleboro community. There was no actual fundraising effort Thursday; it was more of an announcement that the campaign had started, Esterline said. The focus was on the children, who received trophies for their artwork. Their pieces also were judged, and the first-place winners will go to a regional competition and possibly on to a national art exhibit. Williams said she is proud of the children. "They're doing an excellent job, and they have a real love for it, too," she said. The children chose to use a number of artistic expressions. Some of them created portraits, while others made a ceramic jug with a ceramic face attached to the front, also simply known as a "face jug." The paintings ranged from replicats of more well-known pieces – such as "Monet's Bridge" by 10-year-old India Porter of Nashville – to more local scenes – such as "Windy Day in the Cotton Field in Pinetops" by 9-year-old Chase Morgan Webb of Pinetops. The Monet paintings also coincided with the Monet art exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh, Williams said. Several parents also attended the celebration. "I was telling my wife this is definitely something I want to donate money to because – to see the expressions on the kids' faces – they definitely earned their reward," said Darrick Moore, father of 7-year-old Quante Downey. That's the attitude the club is hoping to find in local businesses and churches. The campaign will run through the end of March, Esterline said, although the organization is hoping to meet its goal by the beginning of that month. Esterline said the organization is considering setting up booths in smaller communities to raise money.

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