Many thanks to the Year of the Arts Committee for their dedicated effort to this project!

 

Year of the Arts Awards were designed by Ron Koehler, Chair of the Art Department, using wood from the DSU Quadrangle. Awards were presented for local and/or creative achievements in the following categories:

· Sammy Britt was selected for his lifetime achievement as a painter and art professor. He taught at Delta State for over three decades and his students are scattered all over the US working as professional artists and teachers. His work is recognized throughout the United States and he has had immeasurable impact on artists in the region and beyond. 

· Ron Koehler was selected for his sustained artistic achievement at Delta State and in the Cleveland area as a visual artist, art professor, and leader of the Delta State art department. Ron has made enormous contributions to the region’s artwork as a sculptor and teacher. His signature paintbrushes have a wonderful capricious quality and showcase his extreme accomplishment as a woodworker. His decades of work at Delta State University have produced an army of alumni that collectively advance the aesthetic appeal of our entire state by working as artist and teachers themselves.

· Will Jacks and Laura Beth Lott of Wiljax Photographic Design were selected for the photography exhibit “Contrast” at the Warehouse Gallery in Cleveland which brought the work of more than 50 photographers from all over the country who displayed more than 200 works. Hundreds of people toured the show on opening night and throughout its run at the Warehouse.

 

 

· James Stamps is the retired band director at Cleveland’s East Side High School. From the late 1950s to the 1990s, he instructed hundreds of middle and high school musicians. Levert Pickens, Jr. is the current band director at Ruleville Central High School and has been a music educator in Delta public schools since 1970. Collectively, the thousands of students these gentlemen have mentored and taught in Bolivar and Sunflower Counties are an impressive legacy of which all Deltans should be proud. Recently, both men have become actively involved in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’s Delta Music Heritage Program, which is an innovative after-school arts program at Ruleville Central High School underwritten through the generosity of Caroline and Bill Powers. These master teachers of music are not only role models for their respective communities, but they are also role models to future generations of public educators, as they have consistently provided great artistic opportunities for young men and young women in under-resourced schools. 

· Martha McArthur was selected for her tireless work as an art teacher. She has been teaching art at Bayou Academy since 1967 and was named Teacher of the Year in 2006. Martha believes that no education is complete without the arts. Through her teaching she has helped students find their creative spirit and she has encouraged them to express themselves through art. Her students explore various mediums, including batik, macramé, oil pastels, pencil, pen, watercolor, acrylic paint, and sculpture. For years she has taken students on field trips to various museums and has encouraged them to enter local art contests. Additionally she has hosted an annual art exhibit showcasing her student’s work at the Warehouse. Martha says the highest compliment she can receive is having a student tell her that art changed their life. 

· The Delta Art Alliance was selected for its Artist-in-Residence program that for the past five years has helped to provide art experiences for students in the Mississippi Delta. This year, over 2,500 School children in Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower, and Tallahatchie counties will benefit from the DAA program. Artists travel to schools in these counties and provide art activities for children that wouldn’t otherwise have exposure to the arts because of budget cuts. The Delta Arts Alliance serves as a bridge connecting diverse cultures and promotes the arts as a prominent part of daily lives.

 

 

 

· Raymond Huerta, Scott Speaks, Justin Huerta, Kut Works, and Locals (Heather Short) of the Warehouse District  were selected because they have created one of the most exciting and unique spaces in Cleveland. The Warehouse district is an area that supports the arts by giving artists a space to show their work and it gives patrons a chance to have a hand’s on experience. The renovation of each building in the Warehouse District shows an eye for color, space, history, and fun. Cleveland has benefited by having an area that offers unique living, culinary, and artistic opportunities for its citizens.   

· Nan Sanders was selected because of her work in establishing The Jimmy and Hazel Sanders Sculpture Garden. The garden was started as a creative vision of Nan Sanders and Pam Mathews. Their original concept was to have the campus of Delta State University filled with sculpture to transform the campus through public art and landscaping. Also, the Sculpture Garden was created as a location for the Sculpture Garden Competition. The competition is made possible by the generous endowment from the Hazel and Jimmy Sanders Family. Delta State University is becoming recognized as the only university in Mississippi to have its campus filled with an outdoor art collection that the public can enjoy. There are now fourteen sculpture pieces that are owned by Delta State University including ten pieces which are placed in various locations around campus. Nan has given tirelessly of her time and resources to make this dream a reality.

· The Junior Auxiliary and Carla Parker Dance Studios were selected for their production “A Child’s Dream: An Adaptation of the Nutcracker.” These nominees worked tirelessly with over 200 children to produce an adaptation of the Nutcracker. This performance is held every three years and it includes performers ranging in age from 5 years to adult. This production allows children to perform as dancers on a “broadway” stage. The production has touched many lives both young and old.

· Dockery Farms was selected for three accomplishments: partnering with Viking Range to host the PBS series, “Endless Feasts,” in which hundreds of area people were involved. The piece will air in April to an audience of several million. They were also honored for their work restoring several buildings on the Dockery site made possible by a “Save America Treasures Grant” and lastly, for their work with the Thelonious Monk Institute which for the past three years has brought internationally known jazz performers to the Delta to teach school children about jazz and the blues through the Delta Music Heritage Program and also provides world class jazz performances for the region. For these accomplishments which promote cultural, educational, and entertainment opportunities, and have brought national recognition to the Delta, Dockery Farms will receive the Year of the Arts, 2010 Performing Arts Award.