PEA RIDGE — Local elementary artists captured a multitude of awards at the 6th Annual Arkansas Collaboration of the Arts Competition/Exhibition held in Little Rock last week.
Nine students were named as award winners in the state wide contest, the only elementary school with more than two awards. This years’ contest set records with the number of schools entered from across the state.
“This was the finest collection of art entries that we have ever had,” according to program chairman Sharon Hacker. “It was most difficult picking just four winners from each grade.”
Two Pea Ridge students were awarded first places in their own grades. Cooper David’s drawing “Buffalo” was tabbed as the best among first graders, withthird-grader Karlie King taking top honors in her grade with an oil pastel of a bear and hunters titled “Facing Extinction.”
Second places were earned by kindergartner Croix Licause and firstgrader Reilly Ingram. Licause produced a crayon drawing titled “Tree Frog,” while Ingram entered a tempera painting called “Ladybugs.”
Second-grader James Adams took second place with a oil pastel and tempera piece titled “Beaver,” with kindergartner Daniel Thurman, first-grader Drew Maulding, third-grader Gracie Easterling and fifth-grader Gracie Downs each taking fourth place in their respective divisions.
Thurman drew the crayon picture “Ducks,” Maulding drew an oil pastel rabbit “Frightened Rabbit,” Easterling entered an oil pastel “Cardinal,” with Downs painting a tempera work title “Bear and her Cubs”.
The students art will remain on display at the Witt Stevens Conservation Center, at 600 Clinton Avenue, until this fall. Approximately 350,000 visitors are expected to tour the center this year with the student art prominently displayed there.
Before going to get their awards, the artists had the opportunity to tour the Arkansas state capitol building.
“None of the students had ever seen the state capitol and I thought it would be good to take a short tour of the place,” said art teacher John McGee. “We toured the rotunda, went through the Supreme Court chamber, saw the House of Representatives and the Senate,and got to sit around the governors meeting room table.”
The only glitch in the trip was a bus breakdown at a Russellville restaurant after stopping for lunch.
After the driver made a callto the to Pea Ridge bus office, another call was made from Pea Ridge to the Russellville Public School bus maintenance office which resulted in three school mechanics showing upto quickly get the student group back on the road.
The last exhibition of Pea Ridge student art this school term will be at the Gilcrease Museum of Western and American Art inTulsa, Oklahoma. The exhibit will run from the end of May through the end of June with approximately 50 local students having their art hung there.
School, Pages 13 on 05/09/2012