Random Acts of Artists

Random Acts of Artists (RAA) is a group of creative individuals located in western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio who are involved in all areas of the arts. Our members represent some of the area’s finest talents in fine art, theater, music, dance, design and crafts. This group began in the spring of in 2014 as a small group of a about dozen artists. The motivation was the belief that bringing artists together through communication and cooperation could benefit the artists as individuals and ultimately the communities in which they live.

RAA is essentially a grassroots movement of artists who have bonded together to share our vision that art can revitalize our region. Our purpose is to unite, inform and encourage artists and to organize our artists to create projects that bring the arts to our local communities. Our members continually post information on our Facebook group about upcoming area shows for artists and craftsmen as well as theatrical and musical events. There is an educational element that is achieved by postings regarding instructional websites and videos that demonstrate various techniques and artistic concepts. RAA also encourages our members to post their own creations on our Facebook group page. Some of these artists seek advice or critiques on their works, while some are announcements that their work has achieved a particular status, such as being accepted into a prestigious juried art show.

RAA is now a group of over 500 artists who communicate through social media channels and gather together in person to learn, teach, share and accomplish artistic projects. Most our members reside within a 50-mile radius of Sharon, PA. RAA primarily serves Mercer and Lawrence counties in PA, and Trumbull and Mahoning counties in Ohio. Our goal is to enhance the quality of life by bringing more of the arts to these areas.

RAA also has an informal gathering of members once a week at 7pm Wednesday evenings at the Apollo Maennerchor German Social Club Hall located in Sharon. These gatherings consist of various formats such as educational speakers, drawing sessions, poetry readings, working on group community projects, art demonstrations and classes and guest musicians. Members are always invited to bring their own art materials or supplies and create, share ideas and enjoy the company or other fellow artists.

Last year RAA's accomplishments include an art installation in Sharon's Bicentennial park. RAA artists also gave their time and their talents to help groups such as the local Untied Way, Joshua's Haven City Mission, Greater Sharon Associate Merchants and Sharon Beautification Commission. The group also coordinated several public juried art shows and casual “Pop-up” art shows. RAA has been honored to be a major part of the Sharon Waterfire events.

We are currently working with the Sharon Beautification Commission and the Sharon Gardener’s Club to complete 2 more art installations in downtown Sharon during 2016. One will be alongside State Street at the Community Library and the other across from the Sharon Municipal Building on Connelly Blvd. RAA is also working with Buhl Park on designing art installations for the park. There are many more community-oriented projects that we have recently been asked to participate in. We hope to accomplish as many as possible with the help of community funding.

Going forward, we hope to initiate and cooperate with businesses and organizations to bring art to the community as a foundation for the growth and revitalization of our communities. As artists we do this to benefit each other’s artistic endeavors as well as the community.

Random Acts of Artists can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/randomactsofartists.

On Twitter @randomactsartists

Email randomactsofartists@gmail.com

We are proud to now have this website www.randomactsofartists.com.

Sincerely,

Terry Polonsky and Linda R. Brink- co-Administrators of RAA

Mission Statement

Random Acts of Artists is dedicated to promoting the arts and nurturing the artists through open communication and mutual cooperation. We strive to encourage the artists to be successful in their own individual endeavors. As a community of artists we also want to share the artistic experience with the general public to enhance the quality of life in our region.