Kid art: love it

I love children’s art, so seeing the Boys & Girls Club art exhibit at Philbrook was a treat. For a peek at the artworks and a list of kids who won ribbons see this post.  You might be wondering about this colored-pencil sketch titled “Sallie.” It was not in the show. It hangs in my condo. It’s a portrait that a child drew of me, apparently during my pink-haired phase, a phase that I don’t recall. Now I’m going to pretend to be a Philbrook docent and go into educational mode. First, why don’t we know the identity of the artist? It’s because two people claim to have created it. My niece and namesake, Sallie Whitkamper, claims she drew it when she was just learning how to print her name. My 18-year-old stepdaughter Carly claims she drew it as a portrait of me and labeled it with my name. Her two older sisters say that she indeed spent at least a year drawing arms that looked like wings, and that should be proof enough that she was the artist. My husband Gary says he doesn’t care who drew it, he just wishes I would wear the outfit more often. The girls point out that I could save a lot of money on tops. I don’t care who created it either, I just love that it’s a happy drawing and I’m wearing a big smile. And those great-looking shorts.

-Sallie