Tag: Southaven Arts Council

Celebration Of Life Honoring Kelly Adkins – Nov15th

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From the Southaven Arts Council:

It is with heavy hearts that the Board of Directors of the Southaven Arts Council would like to express our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Kelly Adkins.
She never considered herself an artist, but she had more passion for the arts than anyone we have known.
She was a patron, advocate, and pillar of the arts in the region.
Kelly had many goals, but at the top of the list was the success of this organization in order create a home for the visual arts in our community.
We, as the Board, vow to continue this important work.
Kelly created the foundation. We invite you help keep Kelly’s dream alive by joining us in growing a vibrant arts community in Southaven.
Please join us on November 15, 2022 to celebrate the life of our dear friend Kelly Adkins.

The art show and reception to honor Kelly at the Southaven Public Library, Tuesday, November 15th starts at 5:30pm. The show will run through January 5, 2023.

Kelly passed in her sleep on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. She didn’t have any life insurance, but a GoFundMe account was set up to help the family with funeral expenses.

She may not have considered herself an artist, but she always was participating whenever I saw her at an art event/class, and she really enjoyed photography, and had a great eye. She will definitely be missed…

You can find out more about the Southaven Arts Council online at www.southavenartscouncil.org or on their Facebook page. If you would like to help with art supplies or volunteer with classes and events please contact them here or email at southavenartscouncil(at)gmail(dot)com.

Southaven Public Library
M.R. Davis Public Library
8554 Northwest Drive,
Southaven, MS 38671
Phone: (662) 342-0102
south@firstregional.org

Southaven Arts Council’s Kelly Adkins Has Passed Away

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I just found out that Kelly Adkins (striped shirt below) with the Southaven Arts Council has passed away. She was very active in the local arts community and will be tremendously missed. We need more people like her in the arts community, not less…😢

This is Crissy Adkins, I am Kelly’s sister in law.

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the unexpected passing of Kelly. She passed away in her sleep last night and We do not have any details at this time on what happened. 💔

As we honor Kelly’s wishes we will not have a formal memorial service.

Please keep our family in your prayer over the coming days and weeks especially my mother in law.

Unfortunately there was no life insurance policy, but there is a GoFundMe set up to help with the unexpected funeral expenses- click here if you’d like to help her family.

Kelly helped organize art shows at the Southaven Public Library including our MSCA one there and the annual Little House Art Project’s “Autism Awareness” ones in April. She was always happy to help spread the word about any art happenings, and was a big supporter of our group and others like the Tishomingo Arts Council.

Thanks to Kelly for all she did to help teach art and her continuous support of  making art around the mid-south.

You can find out more about the Southaven Arts Council online at www.southavenartscouncil.org or on their Facebook page.

EDIT: There will be an art show and reception to honor Kelly at the Southaven Public Library, Tuesday, November 15th starting at 5:30pm. The show will run through January 5, 2023. If you can’t make it to the reception, I do encourage you to stop by the library and check out the art space in the lobby area.

 

Little Art House Project Autism Awareness Art Show And Reception

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Last night (Thursday- April 7, 2022) I got to attend the reception for the Little House Art Project‘s Autism Awareness art show. April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and April is Autism Awareness Month. Little House Art Project is a combined art class for special needs and typical young adults ages 12 and up.

The show was put on by the Southaven Arts Council at the M.R. Davis Southaven Public Library in Southaven, MS. The library has a nice gallery space in their front lobby area. (The MSCA had a brief showing there, but unfortunately the library had to close that week due to COVID.)

There were about 13 art house students that participated in this show- each doing 2-3 pieces of art. Some were originals, some were digital prints.

One of the participating artists was the MSCA’s own Grace Smith– AKA “Warrior Grace” and/or “Creator Grace“.

Grace works digitally in Procreate on a tablet, and loves to draw in a manga/anime style on it and her smart phone.

There were many different styles of art and mediums used, and they varied in size and details- but all were fun.

My favorite was this monkey painting..!

I really enjoyed getting to check out all the art, and talk to many of the artists that attended. There were a few artists I didn’t realize were participants until after I got home from the show. It had been a while since I had seen Grace at one of our dinner meetings at Garibaldi’s or drawing  nights at Michaels in Olive Branch back before the pandemic.

Grace, Austin Almond, and Austin Richards (above with his blue dog painting) were all interviewed by Fox13 Memphis’ Mandy Hrach. You can see the video here and see pics here.

The artists did great on camera discussing their art, autism, and why they love creating art.

Austin Almond , art house director Vicky Neyman, and a few others were also interviewed by a reporter from the DeSoto Times-Tribune newspaper (click here for the story). Austin works at the Germantown Community Theatre where we had our latest MSCA art show.

I’ve known Vicky since I first joined the DeSoto Arts Council back when she was that art council’s director, and she’s a former Southaven director. She does amazing work with her “art kids”, many have grown up in her art classes. I’ve taught art classes at the art house before (as has Kevin L. Williams and Martheus Antone Wade) and look forward to getting to draw funny with them again in mid-May for some Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Congrats to Vicky, Grace, and all the Little House Art Project participating artists. Little House Art Project is a program of The Arc Northwest Mississippi. The show will be on view in the M.R. Davis Southaven Public Library until the end of April. They look to do another art show next year in April for Autism Awareness Month.

M.R. Davis Southaven Public Library
8554 Northwest Drive,
Southaven, MS 38671
Phone: (662) 342-0102
Fax:     (662) 342-0556
south(at)firstregional(dot)org

Southaven Arts Council
2126 Stateline Rd E
Southaven, MS 38672
Little House Art Project
2126 Stateline Road East
Southaven, MS

Little House Art Project began as an idea born of an art program for special needs children.  but, why stop with artistically gifted, special needs teen?  Many teens yearn for art instruction.

Little House Art Project is an opportunity for all teens to learn more about fundamentals of art.  Studies in light sources, painting still life, and more will be explored in this series of classes.

Please contact The Arc NWMS for more information at
901-907-9041 or admin@thearcnwms.org.