Local notes: OLLI offers trip to Talking Rocks Cavern

Congressman Steve Womack announced Denise Lor, a senior at Siloam Springs High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional Art Competition for the Third District. Denises artwork, titled “A Reason to Smile,” will now be sent to Washington, D.C., and displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. This years competition featured 40 pieces of art from several different high schools throughout Arkansas Third Congressional District. The top five finalists were: First Place, Denise Lor, Siloam Springs High School, “A Reason to Smile"; second place, Jocelyn Cordero, Haas Hall Academy at the Lane, “Man in the Red Car”: third place, Yuno Brenes, Siloam Springs High School, “Self Portrait of Acception”; fourth place, Caroline Dewey, Siloam Springs High School, “Gratified”; and fifth place, Olivia Summerhill, Haas Hall Academy at the Lane, “The Brick House on Belmont St.” Submissions were also considered for the Patriot Award, which honors a piece that celebrates and artfully represents American ideals. This recognition was presented to Lillian Samuels, a sophomore at Huntsville High School, for her “Fallen Soldier” artwork. This years winner of the Peoples Choice Award, which was decided by the public via online vote, also went to Lillian Samuels for “Fallen Soldier.”

(Courtesy Photo)
Congressman Steve Womack announced Denise Lor, a senior at Siloam Springs High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional Art Competition for the Third District. Denises artwork, titled “A Reason to Smile,” will now be sent to Washington, D.C., and displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. This years competition featured 40 pieces of art from several different high schools throughout Arkansas Third Congressional District. The top five finalists were: First Place, Denise Lor, Siloam Springs High School, “A Reason to Smile"; second place, Jocelyn Cordero, Haas Hall Academy at the Lane, “Man in the Red Car”: third place, Yuno Brenes, Siloam Springs High School, “Self Portrait of Acception”; fourth place, Caroline Dewey, Siloam Springs High School, “Gratified”; and fifth place, Olivia Summerhill, Haas Hall Academy at the Lane, “The Brick House on Belmont St.” Submissions were also considered for the Patriot Award, which honors a piece that celebrates and artfully represents American ideals. This recognition was presented to Lillian Samuels, a sophomore at Huntsville High School, for her “Fallen Soldier” artwork. This years winner of the Peoples Choice Award, which was decided by the public via online vote, also went to Lillian Samuels for “Fallen Soldier.” (Courtesy Photo)


Hope Cancer

Hope Cancer Resources, in partnership with local dermatology clinics, is offering a free skin cancer screening clinic from 6 to 8 p.m. May 17 at Hope Cancer Resources, 5835 W. Sunset Ave. in Springdale.

The screening is free and open to anyone in the community.

Information: (479) 361-5847.

OLLI

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Arkansas has announced the following classes:

May 16: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Can Rocks Talk? Find Out at Talking Rocks Cavern. Travel to Branson West, Mo., to visit Talking Rocks Cavern, tour through pristine cave formations and hear the science of what original explorer, Truman Powell, called a subterranean fairy land. Members commuter rate is $49, with transportation is $79. Nonmembers commuter rate is $64, with transportation is $94.

May 19: 10 a.m. to noon. Becoming an Opera Buff. Join Nancy Preis, GM of Opera in the Ozarks, and hear how a company chooses what to present and how to find the people to do it. Also, Preis will share the Opera's ambitious and exciting plans to become a regional center for lifelong learning. Butterfield Trail Village. Members $19. Nonmembers $34.

Information: (479) 575-4545 or olli.uark.edu.

Writers' Colony

The Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow has announced the winners of the 2023 My Time fellowship for writers who are also parents of dependent children under the age of 18. Mayumi Shimose Poe and Traci Brimhall were selected from 70 applications received from writers across the U.S. Their writing proposals and samples were selected by the judges as rating the highest for literary merit and likelihood of publication. The recipients will each receive a fully funded one-week residency at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow as well as a stipend to cover travel and childcare.

Mayumi Shimose Poe is a freelance editor and writer. Work has appeared in Pebble Go/Pebble Go Next, Bamboo Ridge, Drunken Boat/Anomaly, Frontier Psychiatrist, Hawaii Women's Journal, Hunger Mountain, Hybolics, and Japan Subculture Research Center. In 2019, "Alice on the Island: A Pearl Harbor Survival Story," her middle-grade historical fiction book, was published. She lives with her husband and two sons in Washington state.

Traci Brimhall is the author of five collections of poetry: "Love Prodigal" (forthcoming, Copper Canyon); "Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod"; "Saudade"; "Our Lady of the Ruins"; and "Rookery." Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Nation, Ploughshares, Orion, and Best American Poetry. She currently lives with her son in Manhattan, Kan., where she serves as the Poet Laureate of the state.

Information: writerscolony.org/sponsor-a-fellowship or email [email protected].


Upcoming Events