Art educator Eddie Tipton is a true inspiration
Karen Endel
River Valley Arts Coalition
Van Buren High School principal Eddie Tipton is a true gift to the community. The wrapping that most people see and appreciate is the dedicated, student-centered administrator, who for over 30 years has inspired students from all walks of life to improve themselves as they transition into becoming productive citizens in our society. What many don’t realize is that his inner gift – his core – is being an accomplished artist.
“When I was a kid,” Tipton recalls, “we couldn’t afford sketch pads or charcoal pencils, none of that stuff.” He remembers finding pencils and, without paper, opening up old paper bags or Kleenex boxes to draw, using whatever he could find. He didn’t use paints until he was in art class in high school because he couldn’t afford the paint.
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum (RAM) will be reopening effective today (Jan. 15). Author: 5NEWS Web Staff Updated: 10:19 AM CST January 15, 2021
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum (RAM) will be reopening effective today (Jan. 15) for the Annual Invitational.
The museum had been temporarily closed for cleaning and disinfecting of the art space.
Works of art of 53 artists will be seen in the museum today.
The RAM Invitational exhibition, with the 2021 theme of Exploring Mindscapes: An Artist’s Reflection, explores what artists have been thinking about and making during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Held since 1948, the RAM Annual Invitational is a favorite of our region,” Louis Meluso, executive director, says. “To see the creations by so many of our talented artists in the River Valley and from other states as well is a fantastic opportunity that everyone enjoys.”
Peaceful Disturbance, accepted into the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum annual exhibition.
The RAM Annual Invitational,
“Exploring Mindscapes: An Artist’s Reflection,” will be on display from Jan. 8, 2021, to May 16, 2021, at the museum, located at 1601 Rogers Ave., in Fort Smith.
Pratt, an art major and marketing minor from Nassau, The Bahamas, is graduating this month with the University’s highest academic honors, Summa Cum Laude.
Pratt said that
Peaceful Disturbance was inspired by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on her and her home country. She added that her video artwork demonstrates “the chaotic unfolding that has occurred mentally, emotionally and spiritually within me during this pandemic.”