Photo by Craig Woerpel Bonifas Gallery Coordinator Kate Oman presents Youth in Art Exhibit awards Wednesday. The presentation can be viewed on the Bonifas Arts Center’s Facebook page or at www.bonifasarts.org.

ESCANABA — In lieu of hosting physical events for a student art exhibit, the Bonifas Arts Center presented student awards online Wednesday.

Every March, the Bonifas holds its Youth in Art exhibit, which highlights the creativity of K-12 students in the area. This year’s exhibit includes about 800 pieces made by students from across Delta County.

Awards for Youth in Art are traditionally presented at a pair of receptions in March. Executive Director Sue Roll said these events bring a combined total of more than 500 people to the Bonifas.

For 2020, Youth in Art receptions were scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19. However, they were canceled last week as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We couldn’t hold that this year, obviously,” Roll said.

Bonifas staff met to discuss how they would respond to this change and the closing of the center to the public Tuesday.

“Our mission is to encourage artists and inspire (creativity) … how can we do that when they can’t visit us?,” Roll said.

Ultimately, the Bonifas decided to move the presentation of Youth in Art awards online. Videos in which Gallery Coordinator Kate Oman presented winners for grades K-5 were posted to the center’s website and Facebook page Wednesday evening. Award videos for students in grades 6-12 were posted by the Bonifas Thursday evening.

So far, Roll said the video presentations have done their job.

“I think it’s gotten the word out better than usual,” she said, noting students’ teachers, parents and grandparents have been sharing the videos.

As of Thursday morning, the first round of award videos had each received between 291 and 735 views on Facebook.

Looking ahead, the Bonifas is aiming to share another series of Youth in Art-related videos.

“We’re also planning on doing a tour of the exhibit,” Roll said.

Additionally, the center has begun posting art projects on its website and Facebook page. Beyond this, Roll said additional ways to give people the Bonifas experience while they stay home are being considered.

“A lot is going to depend on, of course, how things are going to play out in the future with this COVID-19,” she said.

To view the Youth in Art award videos, visit www.bonifasarts.org or find “Bonifas Arts Center” on Facebook.