Random Acts of Artists, the artists collective that is best known for its public art projects in Sharon, now has a home: Cravings, the coffee house and ice cream parlor at the foot of Penn State Shenango in Sharon.
RAA opened the space with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and pop-up art show Saturday, May 5, during Sharon’s Spring Fling.
“Random Acts of Artists has been a nomad without a home base for a long time,” said RAA President Terry Polonsky. “We’ll have our Random Acts of Artists meetings down here, so we have a home base for our group rather than willy-nilly meeting places.”
RAA is subleasing a section of Cravings for the gallery space and will be able to hold other events there, including meetings for two RAA spinoff groups, For the Love of Writing and For the Love of Photography.
The arrangement with Cravings arose from a chance meeting by Polonsky, RAA Vice President Linda Brink and Cravings principal owner Jack Laeng, said Brink, of Brookfield.
“(Laeng) said, ‘Would you guys consider?’ And that was, what, six weeks ago? Here we are. The space is perfect,” Brink said.
Other RAA artists who are in the initial 12 showing at Cravings agree.
“This is pretty cool,” said Brookfield’s Lisa Curry, the realist painter of animals and nature scenes.
“I’m exicted that we have this new home for the artists in the area,” said jewelry artist Anita Hearn, Brookfield. “There are so many talented people here. It’s amazing. Artists of all kinds. There’s photographs and oils and just everything. I’m really excited and excited to have a new home to put my jewelry in.”
Laeng said he hopes Cravings and RAA can be good to each other.
“Cravings is a destination spot because of our Penn State ice cream,” Laeng said. “People come here from far. I think this art is the same thing. These people have been the number one supporters of art in the Shenango Valley for a long time, and they did it without having a home. Now, they have a home where they can show off their art, do demonstrations, sell their art. It’s part of that destination. We’re proud to host them here, where people can come and enjoy ice cream and artwork at the same time.”
The photo shows, from left, Anita Hearn, Crystal Curry, Lisa Curry and Linda Brink.