The GFWC Book Lovers Study Club’s April meeting highlighted Arts in April by recognizing our everyday heroes—artists. Creative expression is vital to a healthy and open-minded society. Artwork inspires people, gives them hope and can touch a soul in a way that words cannot.

ART CRAWL

To promote our local artists, the inaugural Book Lovers Study Club Art Crawl was held in downtown Russellville. The purpose of the art crawl was to draw attention to the need for visual arts in our community, to bring people to our downtown area and to promote our businesses.

There were three divisions – child, intermediate and adult. Entries included paintings (watercolor, oil, acrylic, mixed media); drawings (pastel, graphite, pen and ink and mixed media); photography (color, black and white, mixed media). There was a $10 entry fee for those wishing to have their pieces judged. The event took place March 23-April 11.

Winners included: Oil Painting-Hailey Mitchell and Dianne Pace; Acrylic Painting-Delinia Baker; Mixed Media-Anna Carol Porter and Jack Bendall; Watercolor Painting-Chris Adams; Pastels-Leslie M. Garcia;  Drawing-Kenslie Herndon, Montana McCollum, Madison Booth and Cory Moody; Photography-Savannah Loosier and Olivia H. Jenkins; Best of Show-Brooke Brown and Honorable Mention-Morgan Hester.

Winners won $20 each; Best of Show-$25; Honorable Mention $15 and each participant received a certificate of recognition for their participation in the Art Crawl.

Each business also received a certificate of recognition for their participation in the Art Crawl window displays. They were Wood-Thompson Insurance; Thompson’s;  Farm House Café; Chamber of Commerce; Russellville Florists & Gifts; McKinney Law; Hair Studio 722; Traditions; Exit; MS Industrials; Edward Jones; 109 Jackson Ave.; and Cottontails.

The meeting was held at the Russellville First Baptist Church Green Room. Patricia Cox and Ponda Gordon were the hostesses. In recognition of artists, each place setting was decorated with a small easel holding a copy of Vincent van Gogh’s art that served as memento for members. President Brenda Oliver welcomed special guest Jane Willoughby to the meeting.

Members were reminded that the GFWC Federation Day will be recognized April 24. This is the day in 1890 when the GFWC Constitution was ratified with 63 clubs, officially forming the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Today, with nearly 3,000 clubs and 60,000 members worldwide, we have come a long way. Every year, Federation Day gives members the opportunity to reflect on where we have been as an organization and look forward to what we will accomplish in the future.

Other April observations for Book Lovers include Earth Day; National Library Week; National Librarian Day; National Poetry Month; and National Arbor Day. The meeting closed with the reading of the “Collect.”