Silent Art Auction In Honor of Art Teacher Susan Baltic a Huge Success
by Angie Florimbio
The Silent Art Auction held in honor of Art Teacher Susan Baltic was a huge success. On January 21 the Walkersville community came together to show their support of Baltic and artists within the community.
The Science National Honor Society had the incredible idea of putting on a silent auction in order to raise money for the John Hopkins Pediatric Oncology Clinic. The money raised will be donated in Susan Baltics name. With help from the National Art Honor Society, they were able to obtain over 90 pieces of artwork. Artwork was donated from students and artist in the community including pieces from Susan Baltic herself.
“I think that having an auction to support Mrs. Baltic is such a great idea,” said junior Kailey Johnson. Johnson also went on to say, “It’s so great seeing so many people come out to support artists in the community. The money is going to such a great place and I’m so glad that I could be a part of this by donating some work.”
Senior Chara Roberts was pleased to be able to see all of the artwork. “ It’s really nice to support your fellow artist and see their work. It’s crazy to think about how these insanely talented people are sharing their classes with you,” stated Roberts.
Quinn Cavanaugh was immensely pleased with the turnout for the auction stating that it had “definitely served it’s purpose well”. Cavanaugh, who led the organization of this event, chose to donate the money to Johns Hopkins in order to give back to the hospital that had cured him of his own cancer. During the end of the auction Cavanaugh wanted to tie in a science auction into the primarily art event.
He went on to give speech about his experience with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and why he wanted to donate to Johns Hopkins. He voiced his thanks for all of the donations and pushed for people to look into test for early detections of cancer.
Susan Maseth, art teacher and long time friend of Susan Baltic, was moved by all of the support and love being shown. “It’s so wonderful that the Science National Honor Society came up with this idea to help support Mrs.Batic and make people more aware of art and cancer treatments,” stated Maseth.
Maseth was also very happy due to the fact that she got to present a mural to Baltic. Maseth had been working on a large mural in honor for Baltic since early November. The piece featured small 4×4 inch squares made by students. Each square was unique and reflected aspects of Baltic that students loved. Squares ranged from inspirational quotes to flying pigs, all bringing Baltic to tears.
Walkersville has shown time and time again that we are a community. We have truly come together to help support a beloved member of the community and the artist in our area.
