DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Several Central Illinois residents spent their Friday night working toward the unorthodox goal of making as awful a piece of art as possible at "Bad Art Night".
The event was held at Door Four Brewing Company in Decatur, and organized by Alix Frazier of the Decatur Public Library. Frazier said getting asked to create bad art is a lot less daunting than getting asked to create good art.
"It's more relaxed," she said. "Nobody's demanding that you're painting the Mona Lisa. It allows for more creativity, more free form, less pressure on everyone - both those who feel creative and those who don't think they have a creative bone in their body."
Participants were free to make any type of art - paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewelry - but most participants opted for a Christmastime classic - the ugly sweater.
"I'm making (an) ugly sweater and the theme is gonna be a fireplace with some garland on top, and then I plan on attaching some stockings," said Ali Scheer. "It's like stockings hanging above a fireplace."
"I'm probably failing because... it's gaudy and tacky but I don't know that it's ugly," said Amy Cronkright, about her sweater.
LeAnn Rosinski was designing a sweater depicting "a cat getting electrocuted".
But, she was quick to add, "I have 3 cats, so I get to make a sweater like this and not feel bad, because I love cats."
While prizes were awarded at the end to the winners - Rosinski, Cronkright, and Carla Zerfowski - ultimately "bad" is in the eye of the beholder.
"You can do whatever you want," Frazier said. "And we're gonna applaud you for it."
