Two USF art classes will offer a different kind of benefit this week when they cut down pieces of a collaborative creation to build up funds for an art center.

The West Tampa Center for the Arts (WTCA), a non-profit organization on North Armenia Avenue, hosts “Intermittent Dreams” on Friday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

During the free art show, sections from three large paper canvas pieces will be cut off and sold to guests for $25. The event will also include appetizers from the Latin restaurant Castillo’s Caf, music from studio artist Robb Fladry and performance art based on USF students’ shadow drawings.

For the past two weeks, about 23 students from Intermediate Painting and Intermediate Drawing met off-campus to create the canvases at Gallery 209, a small gallery on the second floor of WTCA’s Santaella Cigar Factory building.

The canvases will be cut during the event and distributed in pieces approximately 22 by 30 inches, said Kimberly Adams, the adjunct professor for both classes.

Adams said the students chose the theme of merging their dreams onto paper by themselves.

“The students came up with the idea from a Blackboard discussion,” Adams said, “and then everyone has participated in a different committee representing the tasks they will need to individually handle when they have their own careers.”

With little restriction to the images or materials, students worked on segments of the paper canvases according to their individual techniques and talents with crayon, ink, paint, pen and pencil.

Dreams depicted on the canvases ranged from a wide-open mouth with teeth to a cow with flippers for feet and “Oreo” inscribed on it – a creation contributed by Adams herself.

The classes’ three works can be differentiated from each other by canvas color. The drawing class was only allowed black ink, while the other two canvases – one for the painting class and the other a collaborative work between both classes – were able to incorporate colors.

The Intermediate Painting class created more of a whimsical, daydream-like piece, contrasting the Intermediate Drawing class’ canvas – darkened by black ink with each image standing out and feeling more like a nightmare.

Samantha Newton, a junior majoring in art and a student in both classes, said she has worked on the pieces for four days per week and collaborated with more than

46 students in both classes.

“Although there’s so many of us, it has been a nice collaboration between both the painting and drawing classes,” Newton said.

Five different groups of students selected earlier in the year will perform visual and interactive art works based on a previous shadow drawing assignment.

Kienan Almeida, a junior majoring in studio art, will perform in one of five shadow performances and has also been working on the canvases.

“When you walk into the room, it’s like you’re walking in on 30 people sleeping,” Almeida said.

USF Art Corp, a club created to raise awareness about art programs at USF and around the community, will display other students’ work in the hallway outside of Gallery 209.

John Mansfield, a junior majoring in fine art and the treasurer of Art Corp, said his work is featured both inside and outside the gallery.

“When we started on the blank canvas, everyone had space for their own dream, but then it became more of a reaction piece after everyone started building off and adding to the original dreams,” Mansfield said.

Chris Gilmore, a senior majoring in art, said he enjoyed working on “Intermittent Dreams” because it benefits WTCA and provides a break from campus creations.

“Getting off campus has been nice because it gave us a chance to see other people’s work and their studios,” Gilmore said. “It has been more of a real world experience.”

The event is free with a suggested donation of $5. For information on WTCA and its upcoming events, visit watc-art.org.