The Clare Fund will sponsor its fifth annual Gala Art Exhibit and Auction tomorrow at Toftrees Resort in State College to help local students continue their educations in the performing arts.

The nonprofit organization was created in memory of Clare Dahlia Snetsinger, who was from the State College area died of cancer at age 17 in 1989. Clare had a talent for the performing arts and, after her death, the foundation was formed to provide scholarships for 11th- and 12th-grade students who wished to pursue the arts. The fund is intended to encourage young people to continue to perform and participate in the performing and visual arts. Wendy Snetsinger, Clare's mother, is a member of the Clare Fund Board.

"It is a wonderful and unique organization dedicated to providing scholarships for students talented in visual and performing arts," Snetsinger said. "Clare's spirit and talent are being expressed through these young people."

The Clare Fund has supplied scholarships for some Penn State students, including Kelley Edwards (freshman-arts and architecture).

"It is a great scholarship foundation which is devoted to the arts," Edwards said. "There is a great meaning behind it, and it is an honor to be part of something like this."

Cheri Sinclair, director of the Penn State School of Theatre, is also involved with the Clare Fund.

"It is a community thing more than a Penn State thing, although there are quite a few students at Penn State who are scholarship recipients," Sinclair said.

Jana King, another member of the Clare Fund Board, has been working with the foundation since the beginning.

"I met Wendy [Snetsinger], and she is such a kind, lovely lady," King said. "I looked at a picture of her daughter and knew that I wanted to get involved. Everyone on the board works from the heart."

Tomorrow's auction will be the fifth annual fundraiser for the Clare Fund.

"Several nice donors gave money at the beginning, but now we need to have an auction," King said. "A gallery from New York comes to town and brings all kinds of art."

The pieces being presented and auctioned include watercolors, oils, lithographs and prints. Some of the pieces are donated from local artists.

"You can pick up wonderful pieces ranging anywhere from 50 to several hundred dollars," Snetsinger said. Admission to the event is $20 and includes hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.

Edwards will be performing some of the music that she has been working on this past year.

"Wendy asked if I would be interested in performing," Edwards said. "It's a good opportunity to show what the scholarship goes toward."

Snetsinger said she is looking forward to the Gala Art Exhibit and Auction.

"We're hoping we have a good attendance because it's fun," Snetsinger said.