Art is all about heart. Having heart. Taking heart. Seeing and creating with heart. At artCentral we live and work, play and thrive with heart!
At the Heart of artCentral are children. They inspire us. They remind us that they are our legacy. They show us that they are our future. They compel us to teach and guide them with tenderness and commitment and compassion. Who we are and what we are as mentoring adults will surely live on through our children.
While we are teaching children they are teaching us. As our young, treasured sages, they remind us how to look and see with our eyes and our hearts—eyes and hearts that are fresh and intuitive, inquisitive and curious. They show us how to say and tell what we see through our appreciating and making and sharing works of art informed by our feelings.
As grownups conditioned by experience and education, we may become more sophisticated in what we choose to see and in how we approach our looking and expressing, but always the heart of an uninhibited, lyrical child beats deep within each of us.
At the Heart of artCentral is artCamp where uninhibited, lyrical children fill Hyde House with their love for art and their art-making laced with laughter. Yes! artCamp is coming for two weeks, Mondays through Fridays, July 8-12 and July 14-19, 2019! Curriculum and registration forms may be picked up at venues around Carthage and Joplin and at artCentral. They’re also available online at https://www.artcentralcarthage.org/artcamp-2019 where you’ll find all the fun artCamp facts.
At the Heart of artCentral is the Annual Membership Exhibition and Picnic when artCentral’s galleries will showcase a host of artcentral’s practicing artists—each and every one a grownup child who has tapped into and retained the joy of making and shaping and showing’n’telling their art.
With their skillful installation by my prepitor husband, David, they’ll present their richly diverse creative expressions in a broad spectrum of sizes and subjects and media for your delight and celebration at the Opening Picnic, May 31, 2019, Friday, 6:00–8:00 p.m. The Annual Membership Exhibition will continue through July 28, 2019, with viewing during weekend hours through June and by appointment during July. More information can be found on artCentral’s website at https://www.artcentralcarthage.org.
At the Heart of artCentral, catalyzing events and exhibitions, is a dedicated, well-balanced Board of Directors that includes Jane Ballard, Jackie Boyer, Maddie Capps, Wendi Douglas, Betsy Flanigan, Lonnie Heckmaster, Doug Osborn, Jason Shelfer and Kerry Sturgis. Each month, for the love of art and artists, they gather at artCentral to guide the behind-the-scenes business of making our unique non-profit arts center a place for vibrant creativity and exciting fine arts culture.
At artCentral’s recent Board and Annual Membership Meetings officers were elected for our 2019-2020 year. With tremendous gratitude we extend appreciation to Jackie Boyer, who as president has led the board and artCentral to ever more expansion and strength during her past two-years in office. Thankfully Jackie will stay on to serve on the board and contribute with her unflagging enthusiasm. Our wise financial adviser, Lonnie Heckmaster, will continue in his role as treasurer, while many-talented Jane Ballard assumes the responsibilities of our secretary. Betsy Flanigan is stepping up to fill the presidency role.
Betsy’s positive outlook, her years of philanthropic experience, her “this isn’t hard” attitude, her beautiful smile and bright laugher and her multi-skilled tool box make tackling any task a doable pleasure with her, no matter how large the challenge or how steep the learning curve. With all my heart I thank Betsy for taking on artCentral’s presidency and sharing her time and talents so very generously.
Betsy became my faithful side kick, or as her husband Bren likes to say my “work spouse”, as over the past several months we developed artCentral’s Give 4ART campaign that was rolled out for May’s “Give Carthage Day” sponsored by the Carthage Community Foundation with the expert leadership of Heather Goff Collier. Together Betsy and I wrote letters, crafted emails, developed posts for social media and attended educational workshops to help us enhance our fundraising skills.
At the Heart of artCentral are the generous artCentral Members and Community Supporters who stepped up to help artCentral continue to bring grand art to our small town. During the celebratory close of “Give Carthage Day”, artCentral was chosen as one of two non-profits to receive a generous check for a Spirit Award given by Revel Boutique designating the best online fundraising campaigns. Betsy and I and all of artCentral’s board members are thrilled with the successful launch of our Give 4ART Fund. Thanks to artCentral’s generous supporters, over $14,500.00 was raised to help grow and expand our mission to support, share and teach fine arts in greater Carthage as we at artCentral live and work, play and thrive with heart!
