Logan County Fair

New exhibit at the Logan County Fair brings elementary student talent into the spotlight

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[August 06, 2018]  This year there will be a new category of exhibits in the fine arts barn at the Logan County Fair. Spearheaded by Karen Klockenga-Burgrabe with assistance from her daughter Danielle Burgrabe, youngsters in grade levels kindergarten through second will have their own section at the fair.

On Monday morning Karen and Danielle were literally up to their elbows in art submitted by more than 700 students from schools throughout the county. Klockenga-Burgrabe explained that in the three lower levels of elementary school, in Logan County there are approximately 850 students. The level of participation, with more than 700 involved, was a great surprise and considered a big success.

Klockenga-Burgabe said that success had to be contributed not to her, but to the school administrators, home room teachers, and art teachers. She said those staff at the schools had been enthused about the project and very supportive in encouraging the children to create works of art for the fair.

Klockenga-Burgabe said in addition, the children seemed to be quite enthused as well. She noted that on Monday morning, some of the kids had already stopped by to see their works of art on display. She said she had assured them all that before the end of the day, all the great works of art would be up where that everyone coming into the fine arts barn would be able to admire them.

Klockenga-Burgabe said that in addition to the schools being excited, there were members of the community who were also ready and willing to help out. She noted that each piece of work is mounted on a nice piece of cardboard. She said those pieces were pre-cut to size and donated by heritage packaging in Lincoln.

Cliff at Fifth Street Food Mart in Lincoln had given monetary support that would allow for a large banner for the show as well as ribbons for the kids. Elaine Awe of Culver’s Restaurant in Lincoln donated free ice cream treats to every child that participated. Also, this will be a judged show. The winners will have their artwork displayed after the fair at Culver’s. Winners will also receive a gift from Rustic Love Rentals, a business owned and operated by Klockenga-Burgabe.

Klockenga-Burgabe is delighted with how this first year project went, and is looking forward to future years. She explained that while this year entries were limited to the first three grade levels, in 2019 third-graders will be added. In 2020 fourth-graders will be added and in 2021 fifth-graders will be permitted to enter. She said that this will end with fifth grade though because according to fair rules for fine arts, entries submitted by young people fifth grade and up have to be placed on a proper matting. Klockenga-Burgabe said the nice thing about that, is that the kids participating this year will have the opportunity to continue participation for the next two to four years.

For Fair Board Secretary Mike Maske, this new display is a really good thing. He explained last week that he was really excited to see this new project, and was also excited that the fair board needed to build new display areas in the fine arts barn to accommodate all the entries.

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For the kids, this is also a good thing. Having their works on display for the public to admire helps them appreciate the value of art and motivates them to continue exercising their artistic side.

There is also a hope and expectation that the display will increase traffic into the fine arts barn. Parent, grandparents, other relatives and friends, may all wish to see their child’s work on display, bringing them into the barn, where they will have a chance to see other really good works of art.

The display is called Making Memories County Youth Art Program. There are basically two medium involved in the artwork. Klockenga-Burgabe said children were encouraged to choose either pencil or crayon for their masterpieces. However, some chose to use both medium and some added extra touches like coloring or detailing with marker. For Klockenga-Burgabe it’s all good. She said the judges may need to choose which category they want to judge a piece in, but regardless, every kid is going to be a big winner.

On Thursday evening Karen and Danielle were still hard at work getting all the artwork on display. The special A-frame racks provided were filling up, and art was being placed on the west wall of the barn. Stacks of pictures were still awaiting placement, but Klockenga-Burgabe was certain that by the time she and her daughter leave for the evening everything will be as it should be.

We encourage everyone, regardless of whether or not you have a child participating to stop in and admire the work of these very young kids.


[Nila Smith with photos by Nila Smith & Jan Youngquist]

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