In past years, serving smoked brisket, fried chicken and sweet potatoes was enough to draw a large crowd to the Lawrence-Douglas County Soul Food Dinner.

Norma Sellberg, Lawrence, left, waits for Ursula Minor, Lawrence, to fill her plate with fried chicken, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn bread, and macaroni and cheese Saturday afternoon at the annual NAACP Soul Food Dinner. Tickets were 0, and all proceeds will go to scholarships for Lawrence and Free State high school graduates.

This year, organizers spiced it up by adding an art exposition to Saturday’s event at First Baptist Church, giving the event a visual appeal to go along with the smells of soul food.

In all, the event rounded up about 250 attendees at the church Saturday afternoon.

“People were just a nice mix of folks,” said organizer Donna Bell.

Bell hoped enough people were there to gather at least $1,000 for two scholarships that the Lawrence-Douglas County unit of the NAACP sponsors at both city high schools.

One is for a high-achieving student, and another goes toward one who has begun to realize his potential.

“We want to provide opportunities for both those types of students,” Bell said.

One student from Lawrence High School was on hand to showcase his talents, which comes in the form of custom furniture.

Woodworking is enough of a hobby for Jeremy Bell – not related to Donna Bell – that he’s started a business selling wares ranging from chessboards made of walnut and sycamore to desks.

“It started out small,” he said. “Now I’m getting in the process of paying taxes.”

Other artwork at the event included large painted canvasses depicting various aspects of African-American culture.

“We thought this was a good first step to get an art showcase,” Donna Bell said.