Ainsley Vogel (left) and Cindy An (right) hosted the 2D Charity Art Sale on Tuesday. Credit: Courtesy of Cindy An
The arts community on campus is rallying to support aspiring artists for charitable causes.
CTRL+Paint, the Animation Club and the Digital Art Club are collaborating to feature the work of student artists at their first annual Charity 2D Art Sale, which began August 19 and runs on select dates through September 6.
The art sale will be set up outside of Hopkins Hall on Monday, Saturday and the following Saturday, September 6, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cindy An, president of CTRL+Paint and founder of the Charity 2D Art Sale, said the event has been more than a year in the making.
“Our vision is all about art and community,” An said. “We have so many artists and so many things we could do, so we might as well get our artists out there and also help a good cause.”
Fifteen students across the three organizations will have their own artwork up for sale.
“We have seven artists from CTRL+Paint, three from Animation Club and five from Digital Art Club,” An said.
“Members [and] students could submit any art pieces they wanted to contribute to the event,” Ricky Minniti, vice president of the Animation Club, said in an email. “We felt it was important to give any student artist a chance to showcase any work that they were proud of.”
Emily Kocur, head of marketing for the Digital Art Club, contributed her art to sell in the form of stickers.
“It’s exciting for club members to be able to sell their art, which tends to take a lot of work and money if done alone,” Kocur said in an email. “People who submitted art didn’t have to pay any expenses to sell.”
Apart from stickers, An said the art sale will also have various prints and pins available for purchase.
“To keep costs low, we make them by hand,” An said. “Large prints are 11×17 [inches] and they’re $15. Small prints are 8.5×11 [inches] and they’re $10. Then we have stickers which are $3 and they’re around 2 inches, and then the pins are 3 inches and they’re $5.”
An said 80 percent of all proceeds will go towards three charities that were selected by each club. The remaining 20 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the artists that made the products.
“If you buy from one of the artists, it will go to the charity that the club represents,” An said.
An said CTRL+Paint is representing the P.E.E.R. Center — a local Columbus recovery center that aids those recovering from addiction, mental illness, trauma, incarceration and homelessness.
“Art is not only a medium of entertainment, but also a method of activism and advocacy … We’ve started this service opportunity where we go to the P.E.E.R. Center and do art related events,” An said. “We personally feel that our funds going towards their mission is the best use of our resources. I just really love the way they implement art within their trajectory of healing.”
Kocur said the Digital Art Club selected Free Arts — an organization based in Arizona that aids children in processing difficult emotions and circumstances through art.
“This event is a good opportunity to support charities while also supporting local artists,” Kocur said.
Minniti said the Animation Club chose to sponsor the California Community Foundation — an organization with the goal of improving the quality of life in Los Angeles, which is the heart of the animation industry.
“California holds many major animation studios with lots of hard-working individuals in the animation industry, and we wanted to help aid those who had been affected by the wildfires at the beginning of 2025,” Minniti said. “This is a very special charity event, not just for our artists who volunteered their work, but for those in need who are represented by each club’s respective charity.”
An said the art sale’s first day was a success and a testament to their dedication.
“[Tuesday] was a showcase of what we are capable of through collaboration. We’re so grateful to have such a wonderful community who really showed up to support the sale,” An said in an email. “[We’re] looking forward to enjoying art with many more people at the upcoming sales!”
An said she is excited to see the arts community on campus continue to come together at the upcoming events.
“What it means to be a member of the art community at OSU is having infinite resources,” An said. “It’s a wonderful place to just meet other artists and bond.”
Minniti said to be a member of the arts community is to be open to growth.
“To learn new skills from classes and fellow students you meet; to constantly keep trying to improve your art and recognizing that it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Minniti said. “Learning and improving one’s art is a process that takes time … there’s always room for growth.”
