TRAHC announces recipients of annual Hero Awards
The Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council presented its annual TRAHC Hero Awards on Oct. 7 prior to the season opening Perot Theatre Series show, a concert by the New York Philharmonic String Quartet.
This year’s awards and recipients are:
The Arts Partner Award recognizes organizations or businesses that actively work to empower individuals and the community to grow through the arts by working in full partnership with TRAHC. This year’s Arts Partner Award was presented to Century 21 All Points Realty for being the first ever and this year’s Perot Theatre Series sponsor. It was received by Claudia and Pete Snow and Jared Horton.
The Arts Champion Award recognizes individuals who work actively as advocates for the arts and heighten our understanding, creating a community in which the arts can flourish. This year’s Arts Champion Award was presented to Susannah Morriss Linnett and Meredith Morriss Farren for their work in establishing the Silvermoon Children’s Theater.
The Standing Ovation Award recognizes TRAHC volunteers whose extraordinary gifts of time and energy significantly enhance the impact of TRAHC in the community. This year’s Standing Ovation Award was presented to Linda McClemens for her many years of service at the Regional Arts Center and other TRAHC programs.
The Arts Educator Award recognizes individuals who, through their teaching of the arts, enrich and transform lives. This year’s Arts Educator Award was presented to Christina Frost for her work in developing fine artists at Trice Elementary, including multiple student submissions to the annual TRAHC Student Exhibition and the Pint Sized Picassos Project.
The ArtsSmart Award recognizes educators who are models of the masterful arts-rich teaching which engages our students, tuning them in to their world and turning them on to learning. This year’s ArtsSmart Award was presented to Megan Griffin, who has taught at numerous Arts On Main art camps and created multiple works for the ArtWall, in addition to teaching art at Waggoner Creek Elementary.
The Outstanding Community Impact Award is given only in special circumstances and is not an annual award. This year’s Outstanding Community Impact Award was presented to Anonymous Foundation, BancorpSouth agent. TRAHC chose to honor the Foundation for making the ArtsSmart bus subsidy program available for schools up to 100 miles away. This enables students to attend annual curriculum-based school shows at the Perot Theatre.
Anonymous Foundation was also the first donor to establish TRAHC’s scholarship program, providing students and adults of underserved populations the ability to attend artsbased classes at Arts On Main. This generosity is in addition to many years of support to the Texarkana Museums System, the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, Texarkana College and education across our region. The Anonymous Foundation wishes to still remain anonymous. Therefore, Ron Mills, senior vice president and regional trust manager for BancorpSouth Wealth Management, accepted the award on behalf of the foundation.
The Betty Parker Award is another award that is given only in special circumstances to recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond. This year’s Betty Parker Award was presented to Marvin Williams for his dedication to documenting TRAHC’s African American Committee events since its inception in 2001 and to telling Texarkana’s African-American history through video, including the Scott Joplin mural.
This year’s TRAHC Hero Awards were created by the Union Elementary photography class in Texarkana, Ark., with guidance by instructor Katie Lasagna. A portion of their photographic montage is on permanent display at the Regional Arts Center with past TRAHC Hero artist pieces.