Gahanna Lincoln High School's community-art class students have a gallery of activities planned for the third annual Herb n' Arts Fair.
The fair will be held from noon to 6 p.m. May 5 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Park by the Gahanna Pool, 148 Parkland Drive.
The students created the fair to highlight their talents and showcase the arts in the Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools.
Community-art teacher Sharon Iseringhausen said students have organized all the activities.
"It's an event created by students, for students, featuring students," she said. "I am so proud of the students in this class."
During the course of the year, Iseringhausen said, the class has completed a number of community projects in addition to organizing the fair. These have included the creation and installation of several murals.
"During the planning for the fair, the students have learned how to apply for grants," she said.
The class received two grants this year, one from the Gahanna-Jefferson Education Foundation and a Franklin County Neighborhood Arts Grant from the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education.
Senior Payton Vogelgesang is a class member for the second consecutive year.
"This year, we're incorporating some music-creation stations along with our art stations," she said. "We also improved the acts on the stage. This year, our theater program will do a preview of the spring musical ("In the Heights"). It's always really good."
Vogelgesang said another new addition will be high school athletes working with children.
"They will help teach soccer," she said. "We've got them involved."
Vogelgesang said she has been in charge of processing donations.
"We want it to be a free event," she said. "No matter your financial situations, you can come out and enjoy the fair. We go to businesses and get grants to put on this fair, so the whole community can enjoy it."
She said the event's date was moved up to May 5 in order to kick off Herb n' Restaurant Week events. From May 6-12, the city will celebrate herbs with events such as Herbs in the Alley, set for 6:30 p.m. May 11 at the Ohio Herb Education Center, 110 Mill St., and Herb Day, which begins at 9 a.m. May 12 in the Creekside Plaza, 117 Mill St.
"We wanted it to be our own event," she said of the fair. "This is more arts. It's the week before the (vote on the) levy for the schools. It's important to have our event and show art is important, and we're good at them in Gahanna."
Senior Lindsey Rasberry said this marked her first year in the class.
"I organized art stations," she said. "I came up with some of the stations and made a flier promoting the fair. Last year, we just had art-based stations. This year, we have a music station."
She said youths would have the opportunity to make a rain stick, among other items.
"We also have experiences with food," Rasberry said. "Kids can learn to cook different things. Right now, we're looking at things that incorporate herbs."
She said anyone can make the crafts, but they are geared toward elementary to middle school youth.
Iseringhausen said the class created informative public arts-advocacy presentations, ordered supplies and organized volunteers.
"This class is organized so that the students not only work on projects; at the start of the year, they brainstorm the projects they want to work on throughout the year," she said. "We also work extensively with our SWAG (School to Work Advanced Graphics) class and our amazing FabLab class."
Some of the other activities the class will provide include six hours of stage performance including drama, dance and music; and a variety of physical activities, including bounce houses.
"The students have done numerous presentations to a variety of groups in order to raise money so that all of these activities can be enjoyed by everyone in the community," Iseringhausen said.
In addition to the free activities, there are some activities designed to raise money for the 2019 Herb n' Arts Fair.
They include a tie-dye T-shirt station, art and jewelry sales and a raffle.
For up-to-date information on the Herb n' Arts Fair, including schedules and maps, visit the student-created website, glhscommunityart.com.
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