Have a HeART for Art

Competition showcases students’ work, highlights heart health

Area students and art teachers from schools across Garland County will have artwork on display March 1 at Emergent Arts.

The annual Have a HeART for Art competition showcases the work of

K-12 students in public, private and home schools in Garland County, as well as their teachers, according to Korie Trice, co-chair of the event.

The competition will take place from

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 1 and an exhibition will continue from March 2-9.

Have a HeART for Art, Trice said, was started in memory of Michelle Bartlett, a 1998 graduate of Lakeside High School who died in 2003 while in college from an undetected heart condition. The inaugural event was held in 2009.

“This is the 11th year for the event, but it’s the first year that Junior Auxiliary has hosted it,” Trice said. “We took this on as a service project this year.”

Junior Auxiliary of Hot Springs’ mission is to help students in Garland County, making the competition ideal for the organization to support, she said.

Grades are divided into four divisions with seven additional awards given during the competition. Trice said art teachers select two students’ work from each grade for the competition which were collected by JA on Friday.

“We picked up the artwork and it’s all looking good,” Trice said. “It will be on display March 1 at Emergent Arts and there will be a reception for families and friends to come see their students’ work.”

The purpose of the competition is to educate students in Garland County about heart disease and its prevention through educational art curriculum and creative art activities. Participants were to create an art piece utilizing a heart motif during or after a discussion of heart health.

“Studies show that kids retain information better when they’re doing a hands-on activity,” Trice said, adding that creating artwork while learning about heart health helps students better understand its importance.

Trice said 2018 was almost the last Have a HeART for Art event because Bartlett’s parents — who first started

the event — moved to Little Rock. While JA has taken on the event, the Bartlett family is still very involved this year, she said.

First and second place prizes of gift cards to Michael’s will be given for each division while two honorable mentions per division will receive art kits.

“We wanted to give the students Michael’s gift cards so they could go buy more supplies and continue their love of art,” Trice said.