Faculty and students at Allens Lane Art Center, 601 W. Allens Lane in West Mt. Airy, are currently sponsoring a “Spring Fling” fine art and craft sale this week that features birdhouses, hanging planters, garden sculptures, glass, tiles, paintings, drawings and other fine works created by Allens Lane's students and teachers.

Artworks are displayed throughout the Carolyn and Howard Alber Gallery and the adjoining studio on the main floor. The event opened Wednesday, May 10, and continues through Saturday, May 13, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. Proceeds from this event support the participating artists and the programs at Allens Lane Art Center.

One of the artists featured is Sara Steele, winner of numerous awards including the Peace and Freedom Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. An artist with a loyal following of collectors nationwide, Steele, lives in the Mt. Airy home originally bought by her grandparents in 1935. She turns irises that grow in her garden and autumn leaves that flutter by her window into breathtaking watercolors. Some are as small as library cards, and others are of monumental proportion.

Julie Zahn, of Mt. Airy, whose work will also be featured, will be remembered by many for her gut-wrenching art in "Souls Shot: Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence,” an unforgettable art exhibit in November 2019, in the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.

At that time she explained why she agreed to take part in such an emotional project: “Last year when I attended the opening (of a similar exhibit), I saw my friend, Joe Brenman, and the wonderful portrait that he did. Joe looked terrible, but it didn't occur to me that he could be ill.

“A few months later, I heard that he had passed away. I was so impressed that he had taken on this project knowing full well how ill he was, that I promised his widow I would participate in the next “Souls Shot” in his honor. I was matched with Christopher W. Robinson, who was a senior at Lincoln University majoring in Computer Science (when he was killed). He was so loved in his neighborhood, and in addition to being an excellent student, he drove his mother to her cancer treatments every week.”

Potter Nate Willever, whose work will also be in the exhibit, said, “My work is inspired by folk pottery traditions across the world. German, Korean and early American pots all have a wonderful energy that I try to capture. I use dark stoneware clays with layered slips and glazes to achieve a surface that has a deep, atmospheric quality.”

For more information, visit allenslane.org. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com