The Muses Creative Artistry Project charmed guests at a dinner and concert Sept. 21 at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion.
Guests mingled during the cocktail hour, many saying they haven't attended a social function since the start of the pandemic. Several women mentioned they were wearing dresses that had been hanging in their closets, new with tags, for more than a year and a half.
Walter Hussman, publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, welcomed guests. After dinner, the Muses performed a concert of baroque opera and jazz classics.
At the event, the Kindred Spirit Award was presented to Jane Rogers. She spent a decade as executive director of Riverfest, headed up the Department of Arkansas Heritage under Gov. Mike Huckabee and has served on many boards and commissions. For 13 years, she was a trustee for the University of Arkansas and was its only female president.
The Muses Project "employs professional artists, musicians and teachers from within the state, and across the country, to create diverse performance opportunities, and presentations in all genres of highest quality artistic collaboration: instrumental and vocal music, fine art, literature, poetry, drama and dance," according to its website.
-- Story and photos by Rachel O'Neal