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Thea Foundation's 2019 Lineup of Art Department Artists

Thea Foundation

Nov 29, 2018
4 min

Thea Foundation's 2019 Lineup of Art Department Artists

Thea Foundation is excited to announce the full 2019 lineup of emerging artists to be featured in our gallery as part of our Thea’s Art Department quarterly exhibition series. Thea’s Art Department has showcased dozens of Arkansas artists from across the state with month-long solo exhibitions, a first for many featured artists in the series. In the new year, we’ll welcome artists from Fayetteville, Little Rock and Stuttgart in the months of February, May, August and November.

Thea Foundation to Match up to $50,000 in Grants for Arkansas Teachers

Thea Foundation

Aug 13, 2018
2 min

Thea Foundation to Match up to $50,000 in Grants for Arkansas Teachers

Thea’s Art Closet, a program of Thea Foundation which awards funding for art supplies and other creative materials to Arkansas classrooms, is now open and accepting submissions for the 2018-19 school year, and with $50,000 to award — that’s double the grant money that was offered last school year. Thea Foundation is inviting public school teachers of grades K-12 across the state of Arkansas to submit requests for art supplies and other creative materials to DonorsChoose.org,

Meet Carmen Alexandria Thompson, Thea's Next Art Department Artist

Thea Foundation

Jul 25, 2018
3 min

Meet Carmen Alexandria Thompson, Thea's Next Art Department Artist

August 3, Thea Foundation welcomes Little Rock mixed media artist Carmen Alexandria "Allie" Thompson to the gallery with an exhibition that includes several new works of art. "The Mind Unveiled" will focus on the state of mental health and society and include mixed media works, many of which have never been exhibited. Thea staff chatted with Allie leading up to the show to talk about her process and inspiration. Thea: When did you start making art? Allie: I've been making thi

Firing Up Fine Arts in Arkansas Schools

Jul 7, 2017
2 min

Firing Up Fine Arts in Arkansas Schools

Do you know about Thea's Arts Reconstruction program? Through Arts Reconstruction, Thea Foundation implements new and augments existing arts programs in schools by providing advanced training and tools for visual arts teachers and string instruments and instruction. Summer visual arts training sessions just ended, and teachers from schools across central Arkansas learned to create and fire hand-built pottery and many techniques in metalworking, and they left with the tools to

Shaping Young Minds: How a Little Rock Teacher Funds Sculpture in the Classroom

Stacey Bowers / Photography by Mark Fonville

Mar 16, 2017
2 min

Shaping Young Minds: How a Little Rock Teacher Funds Sculpture in the Classroom

Elena Petroukhina, an art teacher at Mann Arts Magnet Middle School in Little Rock, is a Thea’s Art Closet veteran. Over the years, she’s been able to supply her classroom with creative materials that typically fall outside of her annual budget. “We get a budget for each school year. Usually that covers the basics like pencils, markers, paper, some paint. To give students a variety of experiences with art media, I have to raise extra funds,” Petroukhina said. “Because Mann is

2017 Fashion Design Scholarship Competition Winners

Thea Foundation

Mar 13, 2017
1 min

2017 Fashion Design Scholarship Competition Winners

Thea Foundation's 4th annual Fashion Design Scholarship Competition was held Saturday, March 11, at Thea's North Little Rock headquarters, where young designers from across the state gathered to reveal their unique garments made of 75% recycled materials, as required by the competition. Our judges deliberated over the many creative, thoughtful designs and selected two winners. Congratulations to Amanda Lee, of Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, who won 1s

How Far Can You Go with a Thea Scholarship: Our Scholars Speak

Stacey Bowers / Photography by Mark Fonville

Mar 8, 2017
4 min

How Far Can You Go with a Thea Scholarship: Our Scholars Speak

Every year, Thea Foundation awards 30 scholarships to students across Arkansas. Our scholarships are completely inclusive, meaning they're never awarded based on test scores, GPAs, or intent to major in the arts. Students may take their scholarship to any college or trade school they prefer, but if they attend one of Thea's 27 partnering institutions, including every 4-year college in Arkansas, they'll get a matching scholarship from that school that often exceeds what studen

2017 Visual Arts Scholarship Competition Winners

Thea Foundation

Mar 6, 2017
1 min

2017 Visual Arts Scholarship Competition Winners

In 2017, we saw close to 300 entries into our Visual Arts Scholarship Competition, with works coming from all across the state. Our team of judges carefully deliberated, and selecting 10 winners was quite the challenge! We'd like to say thank you to everyone who entered this year's competition; thank you to the teachers who pushed their students to enter and drove their work from faraway towns; thank you to our judges, one of whom came all the way from New England; thank you

One Big Way Thea Brings the Arts to Schools Near You

Stacey Bowers / Photos by Mark Fonville and

Mar 1, 2017
3 min

One Big Way Thea Brings the Arts to Schools Near You

In 2014, Thea Foundation launched a new program, called Arts Reconstruction, to create new and augment existing arts programs within schools, making sure that the arts are accessible during the day when school is in session. Orchestra programs were added to schools throughout central Arkansas, and visual arts teachers were trained in new techniques and given specialized equipment and supplies to carry out these enhanced lesson plans. Each Arts Reconstruction school is monitor

Making School a Magical Place to Be

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Mark

Feb 22, 2017
2 min

Making School a Magical Place to Be

Take a stroll through White Hall High School, and you’ll see it couldn’t be more aptly named. The walls are stark and bare, unless it’s almost the Chinese New Year and you’re in Mr. Bowman’s wing. Near his art room, the walls come alive with colorful paper dragons, all part of a project funded by Thea’s Art Closet. “I believe it is important to celebrate with other cultures, and it gives my students an opportunity to try a different form of art, “ Bowman said about the appeal

Happy Birthday, Thea!

Dec 5, 2016
2 min

Happy Birthday, Thea!

December 6, 2016, is a very special day in a very special year. 33 years ago on this day, my daughter Thea Kay came into this world, bringing love, light and wisdom into our lives and starting a chain of inspiration that would help us change thousands of lives for years to come. Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated another big birthday: the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Thea Foundation. On November 5, 2001, my wife, Linda, and I formed our grassroots effort to make t

Arkansas Children's Hospital Patients Art on Display at Thea Foundation

Thea Foundation

Oct 5, 2016
1 min

Arkansas Children's Hospital Patients Art on Display at Thea Foundation

Through October, the walls at Thea Foundation will be filled with artwork by patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital, where the hospital's Artist In Residence program brings art and music therapy to the bedside of children to enhance their healing. "Our Artist in Residence Program provides patients and families an opportunity to escape the stressors of the hospital environment and experience a sense of 'normalcy' during their hospital stay," said Renee Hunte, Director of Chi

Art, The Unifier: Rogers Heritage High School Finds Funds to Further an Arts Program that Draws on A

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Kat Wilson

Sep 1, 2016
3 min

Art, The Unifier: Rogers Heritage High School Finds Funds to Further an Arts Program that Draws on A

Together, Nakia Brener and Allen Sullivan, both teachers at Rogers Heritage High School in Rogers, Ark., have posted six projects to DonorsChoose.org appealing for supplies to teach arts-related material to their students. Five of those projects received half of their funding from Thea Foundation through Thea’s Art Closet, whose mission is to fill in the gaps where schools lack or don’t prioritize funding for arts materials. “I am very fortunate to have a school district and

Registration for Thea Foundation’s 2017 Scholarship Competitions Is Open

Aug 30, 2016
2 min

Registration for Thea Foundation’s 2017 Scholarship Competitions Is Open

As of Monday, August 15, 2016, Thea’s annual scholarship competition are open for registration, which will close the Monday before each competition in the spring of 2017. Thea Foundation’s scholarship program, which awards 30 scholarships each year ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 to Arkansas high school seniors, partners with 27 colleges and universities in Arkansas and across the nation, who match or exceed Thea’s scholarships, translating to more than $2 million in scholarshi

2015 Fashion Design Scholarship Winners

Thea Foundation

Mar 16, 2015
1 min

2015 Fashion Design Scholarship Winners

March 14, 2015, young fashion designers from across Arkansas competed in Thea Foundation's 2nd Fashion Design Scholarship Competition. The competitors had guidelines to use 75% recycled materials in their creations, present a book of sketches to the judges, and present their pieces in person at Thea Foundation. Our judges, all successful in the fashion field, included Korto Momolu, Connie Fails and Jeanne Johansson. Students' works were diverse, including garments made from t

The Art Department's 2015 Lineup of Artists

Thea Foundation

Feb 27, 2015
1 min

The Art Department's 2015 Lineup of Artists

Save the dates for the 2015 linueup of Thea Foundation presents The Art Department! The Art Department, a series of quarterly exhibitions by Thea Foundation that feature dynamic artists from across the state of Arkansas, bounded into its second year with two young artists launching successful careers: Jon Shannon Rogers and Guy W. Bell. Since November 2013, Thea Foundation has been proud to shed light on emerging artists in our community by celebrating them with highly public

The Art Department Presents Guy W. Bell

Thea Foundation

Jan 21, 2015
1 min

The Art Department Presents Guy W. Bell

The sixth installment of Thea Foundation presents The Art Department will feature the works of painter Guy W. Bell in an exhibition titled “Fourteen Minutes and Fifty-Nine Seconds: A Selection of Recent Works by Guy W. Bell,” which will debut with a reception Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, from 6:30 to 9:00pm. at Thea Foundation. Feb. 6, $10 at the door covers heavy hors d’oeuvres by Ben E. Keith, an open beer and wine bar, a live musical performance by John Willis and Late Romantic