CONWAY — Friends of CASA have been hard at work planning the ninth annual Festival of Chairs, scheduled for 6:30-11 p.m. Saturday at the Centennial Valley Event Center in Conway. Tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. For tickets, sponsorship opportunities or more information, call (501) 328-3347.
Proceeds will benefit the Children’s Advocacy Alliance of North Central Arkansas, which is now the umbrella organization for Court Appointed Special Advocates of the 20th Judicial District and the Central Arkansas Children’s Advocacy Center.
The Festival of Chairs will feature the work of more than 20 artists who have taken chairs and “re-purposed” them. A variety of other items, including more artwork, will be sold during silent and live auctions.
“This is our signature fundraising event,” said Tess Fletcher, CAA executive director. “Talented local artists take broken and damaged chairs and, with a lot of love and creativity, bring them back to life. These chairs are symbolic of the children and families the Children’s Advocacy Alliance serves on a daily basis.”
Maret Moore is one of the artists participating in this year’s Festival of Chairs. She and her husband, Jim, are honorary chairmen of the event.
“We are honored to be the honorary chairmen,” she said. “Friends of CASA is a wonderful organization. We’ve been involved with it since 2004. We became involved after we moved here from Franklin, Tenn. We’ve seen it grow so much. My husband and I are both very proud of that.
“I have never been able to be an advocate for CASA, now CAA, but I have used my artistic ability to create chairs to be auctioned at the festivals. I’ve done Jimmy Buffet chairs, a high chair that told the story of the Orphan Train (a social experiment that brought displaced children from the coastal cities to the Midwest for adoption) and a chair that was signed by President Clinton,” Moore said.
“But this year, I was a little burned out on chairs and wanted to do something different. I found an old dresser, one that actually belonged to Traci Kennedy (Festival of Chairs publicity co-chairman, along with Kim Williams). It was the dresser she had as a child; it had been her daughter’s dresser as well. I was looking for inspiration when a friend told me about a potting bench she had seen on TV. I took that idea and actually have created a wet bar, but it could be used as a potting bench as well. It’s a nice little piece for outdoors. I thought it would just be fun,” she said.
Others who have created artwork for the event include Lisa Crawford, Eric Jones, Mandy Luedke, April Mathis, Paula Shay, Bikers Against Child Abuse, the Conway Human Development Center, Tammy Brown, Tara Gall, Kerry Jones, Stacy Hammons, Chris Massingill, Molly Chappell, Gene Hatfield, Jeanetta Darley, Alicia Rains, Brandi and Jayce Pollard, Marcie Cox, Robert Schmidt, Stephanie Smith, Conway’s Classic Touch, Terri Christensen and Karen Collins.
This year’s Festival will include a “Bubbly and Baubles” raffle, “which will add an extra bit of shine to the event,” said Kelli Wells, festival co-chairman, along with Laura Simpson. “Raffle tickets will be sold at the event for a chance to win a magnificent set of couture jewelry from Andréa Candela.”
Wells said the $4,000 black onyx set includes a necklace, cuff bracelet, earrings and ring wrought from sterling silver and accented with 18-karat gold and diamonds, donated by Fletcher Smith’s Jewelers and on display at the store in downtown Conway.
Many Conway restaurants and chefs have donated food for the Festival of Chairs.
“Our menu will include fabulous food from Chili’s, JJ’s Grill, Lisa’s Cake Boutique, Michelangelo’s Ristorante, Mike’s Place, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Oak Street Bistro, TGI Friday’s, Stromboli’s, U.S. Pizza and Vintage Kitchen,” Wells said.
Angel and Guardian sponsors of the event include Conway Copies, Fletcher Smith’s Jewelers, Central Events, Nabholz Construction, Snap-on Equipment, Alveraz Consulting, Centennial Bank, Crain Automotive, Custom Metals, Dalton Designer Smiles, J. Anthony Smith DDS PA/Dental Designs, David Clark, Delta Plastics of the South, Hewlett-Packard, Jim and Maret Moore and Prosecuting Attorney Marcus Vaden.
While the name may have changed from CASA to CAA, the mission has not — to provide a voice in court for and on behalf of abused and neglected children who might otherwise have no voice for placement in a safe, permanent home.
Fletcher said the Children’s Advocacy Alliance of North Central Arkansas is an independent nonprofit serving Faulkner, Van Buren, Searcy, Pope and Conway counties.
Originally founded in 2001 as CASA of the 20th Judicial District, CAA oversees both the Central Arkansas Children’s Advocacy Center and the CASA 20th Judicial District program.
“The two programs work side by side to provide coordinated guidance, treatment and support for child victims of abuse and neglect, from the initial investigation of abuse to their placement in a safe, permanent home,” she said. “The Alliance is a place for hope and a voice for justice.”
Fletcher said that during 2009, CASA served 153 children in the three counties it covers — Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy.
“There are other CASA programs in the other two counties CAA serves,” Fletcher said.
She said CAA is in the process of hiring a forensic interviewer who will work out of the main office at 2324 Washington Ave. in Conway.
“This will be a full-time position, starting out at 30 hours a week,” Fletcher said. “The children we serve will come here for one interview. Other agencies involved will be here as well to observe the interview. That means the child will have to tell his or her story only once and not have to relive it several times. We will be able to make referrals from here for any services that child may require, such as counseling or medical assistance.”
Fletcher said CAA received a start-up grant from the Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence.
“We will have to depend on fundraising to help with the costs,” she said. “That’s why the Festival of Chairs is so important to us.
“Public awareness is a big challenge for this topic. Child abuse is not a happy subject. We try to make the public aware of it, speaking to groups whenever and wherever we can. It takes the community to stand up and make a difference.”