STROKES OF CREATIVITY

Birth of an Artist

Benefit brings in $8,300 to paint brighter picture for young creators

HOT SPRINGS -- Anthony Tidwell, a Hot Springs educator and onetime assistant basketball coach, wanted the children in his city to have the same access to art education that he received during his childhood. So he started a program that would allow them to do just that. And he started a fundraiser to help pay for that program.

The third annual reincarnation of Birth of an Artist, a benefit for Cutwell 4 Kids, took place Aug. 13 in the Grand Lobby of the Hot Springs Convention Center. The Rodney Block Collective served as the musical backdrop for the event, which offered for sale the framed art of young program participants, as well as established artists. Guests enjoyed heavy hors d'oeuvres, punch and a custom cake while shopping.

A short program included remarks by Tidwell and an on-the-spot call by Dorothy Morris, one of the event's "Pablo Picasso" sponsors, for $500 in donations. She doubled that.

Proceeds from ticket and artwork sales and donations came to more than $8,300. The money will help continue to support the Cutwell 4 Kids' mission of serving the community through visual art. The program operates out of a space Tidwell renovated, that was once occupied by his grandfather's barbershop.

High Profile on 08/21/2016

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