Some children’s painted faces at the Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

If you saw a pigtailed puppy or a miniature Spiderman walking about among the people of the Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival on Saturday, it was probably the work of the South Tama High School Art Club. After setting up a few tables in front of the civic center around noon, the teenagers saw an influx of people.

Starting with one little girl that got transformed into a puppy dog by Art Club Vice President Liliana Espinoza, the young artists soon had children swarming about. The Art Club has painted faces at other events, including down at the STC Elementary. It’s not only children that get their faces made up but the occasional adult as well.

“I actually kind of wanna encourage the adults to come,” Espinoza said. “Their inner child is poppin’ out.”

Some students, including Art Club President Ceila Ornales, showed up to the face painting stations fresh from striding through town in the parade as members of the STC High School Marching Band. Grabbing a set of brushes and paints, they set to work. The occasional high breeze blew paper plate palettes off the table and made their poster board sign take flight, but this wasn’t a deterrent rather giving the operation a guerrilla warfare feel.

The Art Club also has a few other projects in the works for this summer’s big event, RAGBRAI. The bicycle bonanza will have several signs hand painted by these young artists, as well as a few cutouts, which will be completed with local artist Eric ‘Ro’ Rosario.

Spiderman getting his face painted. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

The most requested items for the Artists to paint are Mario, Pokemon, Puppy faces, and Ice Cream, which is a classic. High School Junior and Artist Ben Seremba said if he could try to paint anything on someone’s face he’d want to try and distort the person’s facial features, making them look alien.

The artists themselves didn’t miss out on having their faces painted. A few painted each other’s faces during those small lulls while waiting on a new client. The Art Club’s Madame President Ceila Ornales stated that if she was getting her face painted she might go with something different, maybe a dinosaur.