HS Alliance
CBCO
The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks will partner with the Gravette First Responders to host the second annual Boot and Badge Blood Drive from 10 am to 4 pm on August 27 at Gravette Civic Center, 401 Charlotte St. SE. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the Ozarks Community Hospital in Gravette, 1101 SW Jackson.
The Boots and Badges Blood Drive is a community initiative designed to help alleviate a severe blood shortage, while honoring the area’s first responders for the great work they do in the community of Gravette. The Gravette Police hope to keep the traveling trophy they won in 2020 during the first competition.
All donors will receive a special Boots and Badges t-shirt, while supplies last.
Until August 27, CBCO is hosting an Extreme Adventure Blood Drive at its Springdale and Bentonville donation centers.
During the Extreme Adventure Blood Drive, successful donors will receive a CBCO Adventure t-shirt. All campaign participants will be entered to win a grand prize including an Intex Explorer K2 inflatable kayak for two, a 70 quart Igloo Trailmate Journey cooler, a gift certificate for 37 North Expeditions in Branson, a four-pack of tickets for Snowflex Park at Wolfe Mountain in Branson and four full access passes to Fritz’s Adventure in Branson.
Donors are strongly encouraged to schedule appointments to donate in order to maintain social distancing guidelines and improve donor flow.
Information: cbco.org/donate-blood.
Hope Cancer
Hope Cancer Resources’ Wellness Center for Hope offers yoga, meditation and fitness classes for cancer patients and in-person caregivers, via Zoom and YouTube.
Their team of counselors and social workers support cancer patients and their families every day with a focus on emotional health, no matter what.
A certified tobacco treatment specialist is available to help those looking to quit smoking with nicotine replacement therapy and counseling.
Those in need of medical supplies, liquid foods, or durable medical equipment, such as shower chairs or walkers, are urged to reach out. Donations of new or lightly used items are also accepted.
Information: (479) 361-5847 or hopecancerresources.org.
Arkansas Arts
The Arkansas Arts Council, along with the Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, are pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Individual Artist Fellowship awards.
“The Arkansas Arts Council Scholarships showcase the wide range of arts our state has to offer,” said Stacy Hurst, department secretary. “From music and dance to painting and sculpture, art is a driving economic force in Arkansas, and we’re proud to know that these grants help artists pursue their products, which in turn improves the life of each of us. “
Individual Artist Awards are unconditional, unrequited awards given directly to individual artists in Arkansas. An independent panel annually selects nine artists from rotating categories to receive grants of $ 4,000 each. Artists from across the state submitted applications for the scholarships in three categories: film arts, poetry, and crafts.
The Canada Council for the Arts will recognize and honor the scholarship recipients during a virtual evening program on October 6. The presentation will be held in conjunction with ArtLinks 2021, the virtual arts conference sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council.
Cinematographic arts:
• Rontaye Miquan Butler lives in Fayetteville, where he is studying for his Master of Fine Arts in photography. Butler’s works have been exhibited throughout Texas and he received the Citywide African-American Artists Exhibition First Prize at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston.
• Thomas James Deeter lives in Little Rock, where he obtained a Masters of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was an art teacher in a public school for 12 years. Deeter created the life-size set, constructed from paper and cardboard, for his film “Shattered Dreams”. He is a screenwriter and WGA winner for season 3 of “True Detective”.
• Lisa Marie Evans lives in Fayetteville, where she is a project manager, writer and host on OZCast, a creative online variety show featuring local, regional and national artists. Evans is also a facilitator and administrator for Artist INC, a professional development and entrepreneurship program for artists, run by Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Poetry:
• Kaveh Bassiri lives in Fayetteville, where he is a doctoral candidate in Comparative Literature at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of two books of poetry, a recipient of an Artist 360 Fellowship sponsored by the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Best American Poetry Award by Paisley Rekdal and Best New Poets by Brain Teare, as well as numerous other prices.
• Hiba Tahir lives in Fayetteville, where she is a candidate for a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry at the University of Arkansas. Tahir is the editor of the Honors College blog at the University of Arkansas and Honors College magazine, and director of social media for the Open Mouth Literary Center.
• Karstin Johnson lives in Fayetteville, where she is a candidate for an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas. She is the co-director of creative writing for the Prison Stories Project at the Northwest Arkansas Community Corrections Center for Incarcerated Women.
Painting, except works on paper:
• Susan Chambers, of Little Rock, received an MA in Drawing and Painting from the Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. She is represented by Boswell Mourot Fine Art. Her work has been included in the annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center, the Spiva 2000 Biennale, and the La Grange National Biennale, at the Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum.
• Jody Travis Thompson, of Fayetteville, is an instructor at the University of Arkansas. He has exhibited his work in New Jersey, New York, Texas and Arkansas. His work can also be found in private collections in New York, Washington, DC, Arkansas, California and more. He has participated in residencies in New Jersey and Texas.
• Ray Allen Parker, of Fayetteville, received a BA and MFA in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he went on to study painting and drawing. Parker was Senior Director of Merchandising, Editor-in-Chief, Director of Creative Program Development and Director of Photography at JC Penney at Nationwide Headquarters in Plano, TX where he worked for over 30 years until his return to Arkansas in 2010 to begin painting. He is represented by Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock.
Contemporary crafts:
• Aaron Calvert lives in Russellville and is an art professor at Henderson State University. He earned a master’s degree in ceramics from the University of Edinboro in Pennsylvania, was director of the Russell Fine Arts Gallery at Henderson Statue University, and has exhibited his ceramic work throughout Arkansas. He received the Grand Award at the 62nd annual Delta Expo.
• Kara Gunter lives in Hot Springs, where she is Program Director at Emergent Arts. She received a master’s degree in sculpture from the University of South Carolina and trained in hot glass and heavy metals at the Penland School of Crafts. She was an assistant professor of ceramics at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia and at the University of South Carolina.
• Kensuke Yamada lives in Little Rock and is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He earned a master’s degree in studio art from the University of Montana, Missoula, and has exhibited his work widely across the United States.
The scholarship recipients will be honored for their artistic and creative excellence during the scholarship recognition, which will be held virtually on October 6.
Information: (501) 324-9348 or email [email protected]
Junior achievement
Junior Achievement of Arkansas, a non-profit organization that provides financial literacy, job preparation and entrepreneurial training to K-12 students, is proud to announce the appointment of Joe Quinn to the State Council organisation.
Quinn is a longtime public affairs, political and communications leader who helps organizations improve their reputation and boost their business in a crowded digital world. Quinn helps clients manage issues by developing fully integrated strategies that span stakeholder, media, video and digital work.
Andrew Faulkner, Dr Allison Roberts, Dr Charisse Childers and Tim Skinner also join the State Council. Junior Achievement has added Jason Parker, Josh Hallenbeck and Laura Monteverdi to its Central Arkansas board of directors. The Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors welcomes Ann Owens, Consul Eldon Alik, Lynn Dauzat and Meg Gullotta.
Information: (501) 906-2401 or juniorachievement.org.