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Skip NavigationArt has the power to transform lives and sooth one’s very soul. This is hardly new news to the staff at Bockrath Flooring and Rugs Carpet One Floor & Home in Dayton, OH, who have been partnering with their local nonprofit, We Care Arts, for the past several years. The Kettering, Ohio-based charity, which was founded in 1983, offers therapeutic art programs to individuals coping with physical and developmental disabilities.
This spring marks the fourth year that the 80-year-old family business has supported We Care Arts via the Bockrath Design Challenge. This annual contest offers these very deserving local artists the unique opportunity to design an original area rug. Owners Doug and Erin Bockrath said the Design Challenge was created in 2016 and since then, has continued to grow in popularity.
We Care Arts students are asked to create a design using up to four colors, with four finalists ultimately selected. Social media followers can then vote for their favorites. The winning design is then forever captured in two original area rugs, which are handcrafted in Bockrath’s Custom Rug Studio. One of the rug’s is set aside for the artist to keep, while another gets auctioned off in support of future We Care Arts programs during the annual Spring Auction.
It’s proven to be a winning combination, according to Erin, although narrowing it down to one winner has certainly been challenging. “We had 30 applications this year, and all of them were so, so special,” Erin noted. “It’s really hard to choose. “
If the truth be told, she added, all of the artists are “winners.” “It’s just such a unique experience for these art students to be part of the creation process,” said Erin. For more information on We Care Arts, visit www.wecarearts.org. To view more of this year’s and past year’s Design Challenge winners, visit https://www.bockrathflooring.com/bockrath-causes.
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