photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

An immersive art space created by Rachel Bredemus, a Lawrence artist, that is based on the French painter Claude Monet's garden. The creation is one of six immersive art areas that were created for Limestone Community School's "Illuminate: LOVE" event, a weeklong fundraiser for the school that aims to add a community theme to its fundraising efforts.

Since Lawrence’s Limestone Community School was founded in 2022, its director, Madeline Herrera said the school hosted a gala every year as part of its fundraising efforts.

Although she said it is a popular method for nonprofits or other organizations for fundraisers, Herrera said it never felt “very authentic to who we were” as a school that prides itself on being community-oriented.

While brainstorming for alternative ideas for a fundraiser, Herrera said one of the school’s board members, Eliza Darmon, suggested a pop-up art experience featuring works from different artists. It was an idea that instantly seemed to fit the school.

“I thought it sounded perfect,” Herrera said.

This week, Limestone — a private, Lawrence-based alternative elementary school — is hosting its first ever “immersive art experience” as its fundraiser, with a pop-up exhibition at 745 New Hampshire St. called “Illuminate: LOVE.” The event, which opened on Saturday, will run until Feb. 14 and features “immersive environments” housing art from six local artists and the school’s students.

Herrera said all the different spaces represent one artist’s expression about love, and they range from a recreation of a garden to an interactive multimedia screen where guiding your hand across a space creates stars and movement. She said she felt the theme of love was very important at a time when people can be feeling “bogged down” with the various “issues going on in the world,” and being able to see something beautiful and connect with other people.

“We wanted it to be a space where people could interact with the art, pose in the art and invite their friends and family to come through the space and have this tangible experience together,” Herrera said.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Part of the immersive art space created by Lawrence artist Odessa Star Comes Out for the Limestone Community School’s “Illuminate: LOVE” fundraiser event.

Outside of saying that the artistic spaces had to be related to love, Herrera said the artists were given no other directions. She said it was really fun for the community to see all the “different expressions” that came out of that prompt.

Herrera said that one of the artists, Rachel Bredemus, was inspired in part by the famous impressionist artist Claude Monet. The iconic French painter created his own garden, but during World War I, he wrote in his journal about his conflicted feelings of creating things of beauty during a war that led to so much carnage and destruction. Herrera said that she loved Bredemus’ inspiration, feeling it captured how it is in human nature to want to create even when there is turmoil in the world.

“We need those windows into beauty or truth or whatever that is,” Herrera said. “We need that as people.”

Along with the six local artists, Herrera said that the school’s sixth and seventh graders helped design an exhibition that could involve all the different students. Their idea soon took the form of creating the basement of a fictional character named “Great Grandma Opal.”

Herrera said to create the basement, the students first had to create her life and lore first. They created this “amazing life” for Grandma Opal, with artistic pieces that represent inside jokes about her backstory. Her basement also includes portraits in different artistic styles — like Cubism — of Grandma Opal, with her likeness based on a photo of a random woman that the kids found at the Antique Mall and “decided it was her,” Herrera said.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

A portrait created by a Limestone Community School student based on a photo of “Great Grandma Opal,” a fictional character formed from the collective imagination of the school’s students. The portrait is based on a random photo the students found at the Antique Mall that the students decided would depict her.

Other grades at Limestone got involved in building Grandma Opal’s somewhat convoluted backstory — evidently, the students decided that Grandma Opal’s mom had a ticket for the Titanic’s voyage, but did not go. The trunk that her mother had packed for the voyage is in the basement, and the contents of the trunk will rotate each day with one of the various items that the different grades created themselves.

Herrera said all of the proceeds collected from the fundraiser will go towards providing tuition assistance for the school’s students that need it. Herrera said it is “incredibly important” to have students from a variety of backgrounds, including varying socioeconomic status and neurodivergence, and about half of Limestone’s students receive some sort of financial aid. Funds raised through this exhibition are important for the school to ensure all types of students can attend, Herrera said.

To see the exhibits, it costs $10 for a single ticket or $25 for a family ticket. In addition to the tickets, Herrera said a variety of local businesses have provided prizes like gift cards as part of a raffle which will run throughout the days the event is open. Herrera said one ticket costs five dollars, while five tickets cost $20.

Although it is the first year that the school is running this kind of fundraiser, Herrera said that some artists have expressed interest in being involved in a similar project next year. She hopes this art experience can be a great way to get money to help the school as well as bring together the community.

“It feels nice to do this type of fundraiser to make it seem community-centered,” Herrera said.

The “Illuminate: Love” gallery is open until Saturday, Feb. 14. It is open at 745 New Hampshire St. on Monday through Friday from 3 to 8 p.m., and will be open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, you can go to the school’s website.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Part of an interactive art space created by Lawrence-based artist Sydney Pursel as part of Limestone Community School’s “Illuminate: LOVE” fundraiser.