Young artists featured in exhibit

Sea Toy-tle, a mixed media piece created by fourth-grade students at the Smithzonian Art Center in Arkadelphia, received a Best of Class Award in the 56th Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition. The exhibit opens Tuesday and continues through July 23 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.
Sea Toy-tle, a mixed media piece created by fourth-grade students at the Smithzonian Art Center in Arkadelphia, received a Best of Class Award in the 56th Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition. The exhibit opens Tuesday and continues through July 23 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

LITTLE ROCK — Several young artists from the Tri-Lakes Edition coverage area will have their work on display in the 56th Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition when it opens Tuesday at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

The exhibit will be on display through July 23 in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium and the Sam Strauss Sr. Gallery. There is no admission charge.

The annual exhibit celebrates the creative achievements of young artists from kindergarten through the 12th grade. This year, 495 works in a variety of media were entered by 132 teachers or instructors from 124 schools.

“At the Arkansas Arts Center, we strive to promote quality arts-education initiatives and achievement in the visual arts,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center. “Through the Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition, we are offering a platform to celebrate artwork created by our young Arkansans and are helping to empower them to express themselves in a positive way.”

The show includes 104 pieces representing 58 schools in 27 towns across the state. Awards include one Best of Class and two honorable mentions per grade, in addition to one Teacher’s Choice Award for each grade level that was selected by current members of the Arkansas Art Educators Association.

Each winning artist’s school receives a monetary award to support the school’s art programs. Selected works from the exhibition travel to schools and other venues around the state as part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s State Services Program.

Local students with works in the show and their respective schools include the following:

• Smithzonian Art Center in Arkadelphia: First-grader Nicholas Maisen, with an acrylic and pastel, Porcupine at Night; fourth-graders Alli Arnold, Allie Bell, Kelsey Boyles, Chloe Dunkelgod, Neva Richerson, Sara Stockslayer, Georgia Kate Stockton and Lauren White with a group project, a mixed-media piece, Sea Toy-tle, for which they received a Best of Class award; fifth-grader Annabeth Wyatt with a graphite, The End of the Day; eighth-grader Mallorie Carozza with a graphite piece, Stretching the Limits; and 10th-grader Terra Pennington with a watercolor and colored-pencil work, Stellar Conversation.

• Bryant Middle School: Sixth-grader Regan Hinson with a graphite piece, Lion; and seventh-grader Emma Parker with a scratchboard piece, Duckling.

• Harmony Grove Elementary School in Haskell: Kindergartner Lilly Scroggins with a crayon and watercolor work, Princess Sparkles.

These students and others from across the state will be honored at a Family Festival and Awards Ceremony on May 20. Activities for kids of all ages will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon, and awards will be presented at noon in the Lower Lobby Lecture Hall.

The Arkansas Arts Center is at Ninth and Commerce streets in Little Rock. Normal gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The center is closed on Mondays and major holidays.

For more information, call (501) 372-4000 or visit www.arkansasartscenter.org.

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