Oakmont artist continues support of Children’s Hospital

An Oakmont resident is continuing to put her artistic talents toward benefiting UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

During the June 4 Walk for Children’s in Schenley Park, youngsters will have the opportunity to work on a special project courtesy of Sara Kirsch.

“We will have a tent and three very large canvases that are going to make up a scene for the kids to paint that day,” she said.

Because of covid, the fundraising walk had been conducted virtually in 2020 and 2021. This year marks the return to an in-person event, and organizers were seeking an interactive opportunity for participants.

The theme of the day is Walk In Their Shoes, which Kirsch incorporated as she sketched the canvases with scenes to which children can add color.

In April, she conducted an Art In the Park event in Oakmont, also raising money for the hospital.

Kirsch serves as artist in residence at the Manos Gallery in Tarentum, the site of a benefit for the hospital’s Free Care Fund throughout May.

An Artist of Tomorrow exhibit provided the opportunity for people ages 5 through 18 — some submissions came from as far away as Florida and Canada — not only to have their work displayed, but to sell the pieces, with a percentage of the proceeds going toward the fund.

“Some kids decided to submit 100% of it,” art director Ernesto Camacho Jr. said.

The gallery is preparing for a June exhibit called Be You, and the following month, Manos will host this year’s Artist Choice Exhibition for the Pittsburgh Society of Artists and its 300 members.