17th Annual Art Auction And Night Of The Arts Event

Walk the halls at Shook Elementary this time of year, and it doesn’t feel like just another school building.

It feels like a gallery.

Bright colors. Big canvases. Animals from all over the world. And behind every piece, a group of fourth or fifth-graders who had a hand in making it.

For Ray Fryman, that’s kind of the whole point.

What started as a simple idea years ago has turned into one of the most talked-about events in the school — the annual art auction, now in its 17th year.

And it didn’t begin the way you might expect.

Fryman said when he first came to the Marshfield School District, the idea on the table was a mural. Something permanent. Something that would stay on the wall for years.

He wasn’t sold.

“Murals are permanent,” he said. “That was the part I struggled with.”

So instead, he came back with a different idea. One that would change every year.

He took a small budget — about $300 — built frames by hand, stretched canvases and turned it into a group project. Students worked together to create large paintings. Then those pieces were auctioned off.

That first year brought in about $1,800.

From there, it just kept growing.

Today, the project is bigger than anyone probably imagined at the start. Around 60 paintings fill the halls each spring. Students work in small groups, learning not just how to paint, but how to collaborate.

“They’re working together, making decisions together,” Fryman said. “That’s a big part of it.”

The project starts in the fall. Over the next few months, the paintings come together, slowly filling the building. By the time April rolls around, the walls are lined with finished pieces, ready for the community to see.

And then comes auction night.

It’s part of the school’s “Night of the Arts,” and it draws a crowd. Parents, grandparents, community members. Some come to support. Some come to bid. Most do both.

What makes it stand out is the variety.

One painting might feature a deer standing in a quiet field. Another might show a panda, a llama or an eagle. Some reflect local life. Others reach a little farther out.

Fryman said that’s intentional.

“I want people to walk through and see something different everywhere they look,” he said.

Each year, he mixes it up. New animals, new ideas, different styles. Some subjects come back again and again — like the eagle — but there’s always something new added to the mix.

And while the paintings are impressive, what they support might matter even more.

Every dollar raised goes right back into the art program.

“It funds just about everything we do,” Fryman said.

That includes supplies, materials, and even bringing in outside artists. One of those is local potter Jennifer Farr of jrae Pottery, a Marshfield graduate who now runs her own business.

She comes into the classroom twice a year to work with students on ceramics projects. Hundreds of them.

“She does it because she wants to give back,” Fryman said.

There’s still a cost on the back end — clay, kiln firing, materials — and that’s where the auction makes the difference.

Without it, Fryman said, the program would look very different.

“The school gives us a budget, and I’m thankful for that,” he said. “But this takes it to another level.”

That level shows in the work.

Students get hands-on experience. They try new things. They see their work displayed and valued. In some cases, they watch someone bid on something they helped create.

It also brings the community into the school in a different way. Not just for sports or meetings, but to see what students are doing in the classroom.

And year after year, the community shows up.

“That support means everything,” Fryman said. “It really does.”

Fryman says over 17 years of having the auction they have raised just over $100,000 for the art program at Shook Elementary. That averages out to a little under $6,000 a year for 17 years of fundraising.

It’s easy to look at the finished paintings and see talent. Color. Creativity.

But behind that is something else.

A teacher who took a simple idea and turned it into something lasting. Not permanent, like a mural. But something that grows, changes, and keeps giving back.

One canvas at a time.