Page 6 • June 2022 • Golden Gazette
Awardees were recognized for their contributions to the art community during the First Friday Art Trail on May 6.
2022 Celebrate Kris theOlsonArts awardees honored Kelly Reyna The Blue Light Live
The Blue Light Live was presented with the LHUCA Catalyst Award. Since 1999, The Blue Light Live has been host to 1,000’s of local and touring acts from all over the country. The art of songwriting has always been a huge part of the Hub City. Names like Wade Bowen, Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, Red Shahan, Grady Spencer, Flatland Cavalry, Randall King, Dalton Domino, Brandon Adams, all credit The Bluelight Live for helping them find their feet as songwriters and touring acts. They embrace songwriters and look forward to seeing the new talent that flows out of West Texas every year. The Monday Night Songwriter Nights showcase the best songwriters throughout the region on a weekly basis.
Kalypso Clum
Kalypso Clum was presented the Robert Ellis Patterson Art Award given to a high school senior. This year’s winner of the Patterson Art Award is Kalypso Clum. Within a wide array of submissions by excellent student artists, Kalypso’s work stood out above the other entries. Her diversity of materials was of particular notice with Kalypso showing her interest and ability to work with a variety of ideas and styles. The award jurors appreciated her attention to her craft and her ability to use multiple styles within a single work of art. The jurors were also impressed by her use of language and text within the work to further expand the meaning of the visual art. The combination of materials and the insight that Kalypso used made her a clear choice for the award this year.
Kris Olson was given the William D. Kerns Award for the Performing Arts. Kris Olson has been teaching children music and movement for 34 years. She has a master’s in music education with an emphasis in a philosophy called “Orff Schulwerk” which integrates music and dance. While teaching public school in Minneapolis, Kris trained at Zenon Dance Company. Since moving to Lubbock in 2009, she has managed to piece together a fulfilling artistic life by combining all the things she loves – children, music, dance, creativity, and community. Kris teaches parent-child classes to Lubbock’s youngest artists in the community centers and at Ballet Lubbock. She teaches beginning college dance students at Texas Tech University and dances and choreographs for Flatlands Dance Theatre. The people at LHUCA know Kris best for her First Friday Art Trail show “Ms. Kris and Friends” where she performs participatory music and dance with specials guests. Kris has even taught elementary students folk dance and bucket drumming in her backyard during the pandemic. Kris is known outside of Lubbock as a teachereducator and often visits other parts of the country to present workshops and teach summer classes. Kris and her husband, Richard Murphy, have two sons, Alex,20, and Joseph,18, who share her love of music and in the past could be seen playing in the backup band for the Ms. Kris and Friends show.
Kelly Reyna was awarded the William D. Kerns Award for the Visual Arts. Born and raised in West Texas, Kelly grew up admiring the works of Frida Kahlo, the Old Masters, and Jose Guadalupe Posadas. Most of her younger years were spent drawing and sketching portraits, later discovering a love for oil painting. She pursued the arts through education and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Texas Tech University in 2011. In 2014 she delved into the art of embroidery while taking part in a year-long residency through Plymouth University/ Transart Institute. In 2017, Kelly returned to Texas Tech University to obtain a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing. Kelly is actively involved in local art markets and indulges colorful portraits of Frida Kahlo. In more professional work, Kelly engages in the meditative techniques of needlework and embroidery, combining those processes to create paintings and drawings. These methods are used to translate the experience of motherhood through the struggles of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Kelly is an adjunct professor at Texas Tech and Lubbock Christian University and owns Grey Edges Studio & Art Gallery in downtown Lubbock.
