Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
THEATER: Charitable donation
Les Moderns, a service organization that provides ushers for events at Robinson Center Performance Hall, is donating $20,000 to local charities following the close of Celebrity Attractions' 2021-22 Broadway Season.
The organization, formerly known as La Moderne, donates 100% of the money its 21 full-time members and 250 volunteers earn by ushering for Celebrity Attractions' events. This year's recipients: Alzheimer's Association of Arkansas, Ballet Arkansas, Buffaloes Foundation, Camp Hope, Central Arkansas Diaper Bank, Centers for Youth & Families, Conway HDC Volunteers, Feed the Vets, Gigi's Playhouse, Paws in Prison, Project Zero, the Roland Crisis Center and Sheep Dog Impact.
The organization got its start in Jan. 22, 1947, as a group of teachers who wanted to give back to the community; in the 1970s it began ushering for what was then called the Broadway Theater Series. The name change came in December 2021 to include all genders. Visit facebook.com/groups/431022231923418 or email susanjfrench@comcast.net for more information.
COMEDY: Comedy tour
Comedian Jo Koy brings his 2022 "Funny Is Funny" World Tour, 8 p.m. Oct. 20, to Little Rock's Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway, in Little Rock. Tickets are $46.50-$66.50 plus fees. Call (501) 244-8800 or visit JoKoy.com.
ETC.: Museum honored
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, 1601 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith, is the choice of American Art Awards for the Best Gallery or Museum in Arkansas for 2022 and one of its Top 20 Galleries & Museums in the United States. Selection criteria included longevity, industry reputation, online buzz, location, size, socially relevant exhibits, motivational and educational programs, the artists a gallery represents and artist, client and visitor references, according to a news release. Museum hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Call (479) 784–2787 or (479) 784–9071 or visit fsram.org.
'Big Read' grant
The Arkansas Craft School in Mountain View is receiving an $18,000 "Big Read" grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support a community reading program focusing on Sarah Smarsh's "Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth." The school is one of 62 "Big Read" grantees nationwide and the only one in Arkansas. The grants program, managed by Arts Midwest, supports "dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single NEA Big Read selection," according to a news release. Smarsh's book "chronicles her turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s." Visit arkansascraftschool.org.