FAIRMONT — Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont will host a unique art show next month.

Director Sonja Fortune said the event will be the first-ever Virtual Youth Art Show, running Aug. 18-28. The event is free entry and open to all youth ages 5-19. Each individual can submit up to two pieces of art, each of a different medium.

Fortune explained that the event came together as a response to the postponement of the Martin County Fair.

“It felt like the kids still needed an opportunity to show their work,” she said. “So I started with 4-H and I contacted them to see if they would be interested in having an art display at the Red Rock, which they were. Then I thought that we might as well add an open class division since those people also lost the opportunity to exhibit this year.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of feedback that with the uncertainty of fall, these kids needed some motivation to do something other than video games, and this is a great opportunity to encourage them to create.”

The event is being co-sponsored by the Martin County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and Youth Coalition.

“We love the idea of the youth art show in the Red Rock Gallery,” said project coordinator Steph Johnson. “This is a really positive activity and it provides our students with the motivation to use their time and talent to create while empowering them to help make our community more beautiful and reward them for sharing their talents.”

Fortune explained how the event will work.

“We have two judges, Duane Belseth and Char Kahler,” she said. “Duane has judged the art show at the fair for many years, and Char is an art activist and has judged many of our shows.

“The main thing about the judging is that we don’t want anybody feeling like they’re competing against each other, so every piece of artwork is going to be judged on an individual basis. Everybody is going to receive a ribbon and a cash prize. So everybody is going to be awarded in six different categories.”

Those categories include, but are not limited to fine art-painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, pottery, sculpture, fiber, woodworking and wood carving, and miscellaneous things such as jewelry, mosaics, scrapbooks, card making, stained glass and more. The art will be judged on neatness/precision, choice/use of color/materials, attention to detail, difficulty, creativity/originality and overall appearance.

Artwork can be dropped off at Red Rock from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 14 and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 16. Artists must include a recipe card with the artist’s name, age, city, and medium. Artwork also must have the participants’ names on the backside. Gallery viewing will be open to the public during yet-to-be-determined business hours.

“Everything is going to be photographed and put into a slide show which will be displayed on Facebook, and Gemini Studios said that they will air it on the public access channel, channel 13,” Fortune said. “That way we can reach some of the people who are shut-ins due to COVID, as well as those in the nursing homes.”