City staff adds color to budget process

Sisters City Hall turned into an art gallery reception Tuesday evening with a display of art from Carolyn Platt's middle school art class. The artwork was submitted in response to a "Sisters Through My Eyes" art contest sponsored by the city staff.

The winning picture, eighth-grader Elizabeth Larson's watercolor "3 Sisters With Horses," will be on the cover of the city's budget binder for FY2012-2013. Director of Finance Lisa Young said, "We picked a winner for the cover, but they (the other art submitted) were so good that we decided to put one picture on each section of the binder."

Ten pieces of art will be included.

Young and office specialist Julie Pieper organized the contest and the art gallery reception. Their intent was to liven up what can be an otherwise dull presentation of numbers and charts. Platt had only two weeks before the end of the trimester to respond with her seventh- and eight-grade art class. She then extended the contest for the first two weeks with her new group of students. Pieper and Young were surprised when Platt came in on the day of the deadline with 31 pieces of art.

To kick off the contest, City Manager Eileen Stein visited the class to explain not only the contest, but also to give the students a brief idea of how the budget process impacts city government and in turn the lives of the citizens of Sisters.

The art will be on display at City Hall and on the city's website at www.ci.sisters.or.us until the end of June.