There’s hope, whimsy, and good art to be found on the third floor of the Public Library’s Central Branch. Rejoice! “REIMAGINE” is currently on display. 

Back for its 11th year, REIMAGINE is a program in which local artists choose drawings created by local elementary school students and use them as inspiration for new artwork. The children’s original drawings and the artists’ interpretations are displayed side by side in a public exhibition. The artists’ works are then auctioned online, with a portion of the proceeds supporting public school art programs in Fayette County.

“The inspiration behind the concept for this exhibition originally came from my daughter Grace,” Lori Barnett, former president of the (now shuttered) Creative Alliance for Arts Education said. “I started recreating her [abstract line] drawings using my own style and medium. I loved having an artistic partnership with her.” 

Barnett started thinking that collaboration between child and adult artists would be a great idea for a fundraiser to support public school art programs and executed the idea successfully from 2014 through 2019.

After several dormant years, REIMAGINE was reinvigorated by Arts Connect, a Lexington nonprofit working to increase arts awareness and appreciation. Barnett now serves on the organization’s board. The exhibition is in its fifth year under Arts Connect’s production, featuring 52 works by 47 artists.

Kate Savage, Arts Connect’s executive director, says the beauty of REIMAGINE is that everyone comes out a winner: the schools receive support for their arts programs, the participating artists are compensated for work they find challenging and fun, and Arts Connect gets support to keep the project going.

Each spring, Savage contacts Lexington’s public elementary schools — and a handful of private ones — to gauge interest in participating. To keep things fair, Savage makes sure no school takes part more than two years in a row. Once she’s settled on the 11 schools, she works with their art teachers to collect children’s drawings by the hundreds. 

Then Savage jaunts around town to collect the submissions, then gently culls and condenses them before photographing and posting them to a private Facebook group of nearly 100 regional artists. Interested artists browse the drawings and, on a first-come-first-served basis, choose the ones that inspire them to reimagine.

Valeria’s drawing (Grade 5, Sayre School) inspired Georgia Henkel to create two works: 

I had a ball visiting with Kate Savage as she put the finishing touches on the exhibition before its grand opening in mid-September. Prior to that, I had browsed the online auction, but, as is so often the case, the screen versions pale in comparison to seeing them in person. 

Savage led me around the room. Zigging and zagging, we paused to marvel at children’s drawings alongside their adult reimaginings. My hands would fly up to clasp my cheeks and Savage would say, “I know … I know.” And we’d both beam at the wondrousness of kid minds and the talent and heart of our local artists. 

Then we’d move on to another pair and do it all over again.

Some are breathtaking. Of Mia’s drawing, Pamela McDaniel said, “Her imagination sparked mine, and I wanted to see where it might take us.”

If you’re a longtime Lexingtonian, others are practically iconic: 

Pat Gerhard dreamed up new dimensions to Derek’s drawing in her very Pat Gerhard way. 

Some are just so dear — like the polar bear that Susie Bell knitted with Ayden’s drawing in mind. At the exhibition, you’ll find this contented polar bear, wrapped in a blanket of its own likeness, reclining in a tiny rocking chair.