Where Does the Rain Go?

This past school year we were not able to complete a 4th year in a row of the rain barrel project.  But this year I believe it is more important than ever to do so.  With the oil spill in the Gulf and our own issues with water quality in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with so many schools working to be designated a “Green School”, the time is now for us to be sure that all of us become aware of where the rainfalls end up.

Everything that we do has an effect on our water in the region and this is just one way that we can keep the awareness high and contribute to the health of the bay.  So this year I will be inviting schools to take part in this program with a final auction in the spring of all of the decorated barrels.  If your school is interested in participating, including receiving a barrel to decorate, our education package, and educational film done at Arlington Echo please contact us as early in the year as possible.

Our goal is to raise awareness, create some beautiful barrels and raise money for the schools and environmental education.  Stay tuned for more details.

Please remember that the auction will end on Friday at midnight.  The highest bid on line will be the starting bid at the beginning of the silent auction starting at 6 PM at Arlington Echo.

Please be sure to check out the 2009 page for complete details.

Be sure to check out the latest barrels that have just arrived. They are just beautiful. Thanks to all of the schools and artists that took part in this years event. At the completion of this event we will announce the plans for the year coming up. It is all new and very exciting for all of the schools in our county.

Today we received this decorated barrel from Bates Middle School. What a great job this group of young artist did on this project! Please be sure to send this post to all of your friends so they can see the great work they did and we can bid on the barrel to support the school.   BID ON THIS ITEM

To see more of the completed barrels please CLICK HERE

For the third year in a row, Phyllis Saroff has provided another outstanding rain barrel for our auction. This year she created one with different species of salamanders and frogs. This is a perfect complement to the garden area. It is with much appreciation that we accept the barrel she prepared this year and hope that everyone gets an opportunity to bid on this work by an outstanding artist. Please be sure to see some of her other work on her website. http://www.saroffillustration.com/index.html

BID ON THIS ITEM

To see more of the completed barrels please CLICK HERE

On April 18th we will have some of the rain barrels on display at the Earth Day celebrations at Quiet Park. I am hoping that we see many of you at the celebrations. This weekend we will be putting more of the photos of the artist barrels on line and will open the online auction.

Just today we received 3 of the artist barrels and they are fantastic. We are looking forward to receiving many of the rain barrels that have been decorated by students across the county. Please be sure to spread the word about this project that is about art, protecting the bay, and supporting the teachers of Anne Arundel County.

The poster for the 2009 Rain Barrel Awareness Day and Auction of decorated barrels is here. They are available for you to post in your business or school to bring awareness to the need to control storm water runoff. If you want one of the posters, just call or email us and we will make it available for you.

So far we have just a few of the 29 barrels that are out at schools and the hands of artist. Some them have been brought back to the studio and we have the photos of them on the Completed Barrels page. Take a look at them. We will be putting them on the auction after we have enjoyed Earth Day at Quiet Waters Park on April 18.

We are looking forward to receiving the stories of your project of painting the barrels. Please remember that we have posters for you to hang at your business and we need to get as many people seeing the barrels and learning about managing our storm water.

After a great deal of prep work by different families, we brought the kids in on Saturday April 4 for a day of painting the barrels.  The artist had already prepared most of them with drawn pictures or shapes to fill in and now it was time to be creative.  Take a look at the students hard at work.

Normally we would do this in the parking lot, but due to the 35 mph winds decided to take it indoors – to everyone’s delight.

Now be sure to share with us your story of preparing the rain barrels at your school or studio. We would love to see them.

Go to our contact page and email them to me, bring a CD with them or on a photo service for us to inspire others. Don’t forget the online auction will begin on April 18th with all the barrels being loaded on that auction as they are completed.

For the past two weeks different families in our school took the barrels home that Balanced Life Skills students were going to decorate and prepared them for us.  Now the day is finally coming, in fact today is the day for the decoration.  On Friday Julia Holmes and Ros Carroll came to the studio and created scenes on the barrels for the different age groups to paint.

Here are some of the photos of prep day. (more…)

The date has been set now for the auction of the decorated rain barrels.  The auction will be held on May 15 at 6:00 PM.    A complete schedule of events will posted soon.

In the mean time it is time for all artist and schools who are interested in taking part in this years event to sign up now.  We have only a couple of barrels left that are available for artists and there is still room for schools as those written invitations will be going out the first week in March.

The event this year is coming together to be our best one to date.  Please join us! Learn how your school and Arlington Echo can share in the proceeds as we do our best in the education of our students.