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NOVEMBER 14 - NOVEMBER 20, 2018
TIMES-HERALD
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calendar of events ➤ Pg. 4
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ArtRez painter draws inspiration from local community, people
PHOTO BY MELANIE RUBERTI
Peggi Kroll Roberts mixes paints to create vibrant colors before brushing them on her canvas. Roberts is the newest guest in the Newnan ArtRez program. She is also the first recipient of the program’s Blackwell Prize for painting.
BY MELANIE RUBERTI
melanie@newnan.com Peggi K roll Roberts’ creativity and masterful skills are coming to life as she captures the beauty and charm of downtown Newnan and the surrounding community. Roberts is a painter and the newest guest of the Newnan
Artist-in-Residence program, a lso k now n as t he A r tRez program. The program offers artists a three-week retreat where they can pursue visual, literary and musical projects away from everyday work and pressures. The California resident flew across the country and is stay-
ing in the historic Gray Cottage, located in downtown Newnan. In addition to being the newest guest of the Gray Cottage, Roberts received the inaugural Blackwell Prize from the New n a n A r t Rez prog ra m , according to board member Bette Hickman. The award was established
to recognize artists of high ach ievement i n plei n a i r/ observational painting, drawing or related two-dimensional medium. Roberts received $10,000 along with a three-week residency, according to an ArtRez news release. She remembered finding out
she won the coveted award during a phone call from ArtRez board member Millie Gosch. “I really couldn’t wrap my head around it,” she said. “It was a wonderful, fabulous gift from the universe. I’m still floored.”
ARTREZ • 2
New stops, more artists at annual art tour BY MELANIE RUBERTI
COURTESY COWETA FERST FOUNDATION
Celebrating another successful Coweta Ferst Foundation Coin Drive are, from left, Angela Dreadon, United Bank; Lorraine Johnson, principal of Madras Middle School; Nikki Henderson, coordinator of Newnan High School coin drive; Phyllis Hall, assistant principal at Newnan High School; Jullian Andrew, principal at Brooks Elementary School; Elizabeth Terrell, coin drive coordinator at Brooks Elementary School; Jacki Parker, vice president of United Bank; and Nelda Boren, chair of Coweta Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy coin drive.
Coin drive raises thousands for Ferst Foundation
BY REBECCA LEFTWICH
becky@newnan.com Coweta County schools raised nearly $13,000 to support the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy with their 2018 coin drive. The annual coin drive brings Coweta elementar y, middle and high schools together for a friendly competition to see who can raise the most money to support t he Ferst Foundation, which provides free books each month to registered children until their fifth birthdays. Each school planned creative fundraisers to raise coins for the foundation. Collections will make it possible to mail books and literacy activit ies to t he homes of 4,878 children in Coweta County. Each year United Bank counts and deposits the coins collected by each
school and presents the top-collecting elementary, middle and high school with a $100 check each. This year, Brooks Elementary collected $1597.01, Madras Middle collected $1,200 and Newnan High $1,000 to claim the top prizes. This is the 12th year for the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy Coin Drive in all Coweta County School System schools. “The board of directors and community action team appreciate (Superintendent Steve) Barker and (Assistant Superintendent Ma rc) Guy approv i ng this effort each year and all the time and support from principals, staff, students and parents,” said Nelda Boren, chair of the Coweta Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy’s coin drive. In Coweta County, a team of volunteers works
to generate the money to pay for the Ferst books. T h rou g h f u nd r a i si n g efforts like the coin drive and with the support of citizens, civic clubs and businesses and industry the effort is successful, according to Boren. Registration for Ferst Fo u n d a t i o n b o o k s i s open to all Coweta children but children who may not have age-appropriate reading material in their homes are prioritized. Participants receive a book each month from birth until age 5. Coweta Ferst currently serves 2,746 children. The Ferst Foundation supports the idea that reading to and interactive conversation with children beginning at birth sets the stage for lifelong learning in addition to preparing preschoolers to enter school. “Coweta County is a most supportive community,” Boren said.
melanie@newnan.com Thirty-eight local artists show off their talents Friday, Nov. 9, during the sixth annual Southern Hands Artists Studio Tour, known as SHAST. T he tour a llowed residents a nd visitors to obs er ve lo c a l a r tists inside their studios in Coweta and Fayette counties. Suzanne KleeseStamps’ Sharpsburg pottery studio was one of 16 stops on the tour through Coweta County. “Last year I was throwi ng on t he wheel a nd doing demonstrations,” she said. “There were a lot of kids who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty so I let them throw on the wheel and showed them how the mud feels.” This year was Stamps’ second yea r on t he SHAST tour and the second year Coweta County artists were invited to participate in the event, which originated in Fayette County, she said. Stamps had a new plan for this year’s event. “I’m going to show people how I use decal paper to transfer a design onto my pottery pieces before I coat them in glaze and f i re t hem i n t he k i l n again,” she explained. “I’ll also show people another technique where I can print images onto special decal paper and transfer them onto the pottery piece. Then I’ll place it in the kiln so the sticker will adhere to the pottery.”
PHOTO BY MELANIE RUBERTI
Suzanne Kleese-Stamps cuts decal paper that will create a design on a hand-thrown pottery mug after it’s glazed and fired in a kiln. Stamps said she demonstrated the technique to guests during the sixth annual Southern Hands Artists Studio Tour.
Guests of Stamps’ studio could also observe her finished pieces of art, which included vibrant and muted colored vases, cups, mugs, plates and even jewelry. She sa id she ser ved light refreshments, as well. While Stamps showcased her pottery skills, there was a variety of art
studios for guests to visit. A r t med iu m s i ncluded weavers, glassblowers, potters, painters, woodturners, metalsmiths, photographers and jewelry makers. T here was a lso two plein air painting events, one in each county, where visitors could watch artists paint outdoors.
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