Library Summer Programs Close With Community Partners
The Natchitoches Parish Library’s Sprout program held its final summer session with a “Christmas in July” visit from the Cane River National Heritage Area. CRNHA representatives Jessica Mullican and Kacy Young led a Christmas-themed craft as part of a countdown to the centennial of the Natchitoches Christmas Festival.
Sprout invites community organizations to present information about their work while teaching children about related topics. Presenters this summer included FAUNA, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site. Volunteers from the Natchitoches Lions Club provided free sack lunches at each program.
The Orchard Foundation’s Read to Soar literacy workshop also closed its summer run, timed to coincide with the Main Branch’s weekly Story Time. Children learned literacy skills through stories, songs, dances and crafts, and each received free books to take home.
Story Time continues Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Main Branch and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Northeast Branch in Campti. Both are free with no registration required. The library will host the LSU AgCenter’s Beekeeping for Beginners series beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 14 at the Main Branch.
NSU Faculty Art Exhibit Runs Through Sept. 4
“Faculty in Practice: Explorations in Material, Process, and Form” is on display through Sept. 4 in the Orville J. Hanchey Gallery at Northwestern State University. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
A reception and artist talk is set for 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, in the gallery. The event is free and open to the public and will give visitors a chance to hear from participating artists about their work and current research.
The exhibit features faculty and graduate instructors from the Department of Fine and Graphic Arts working across painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography, printmaking, digital media and design. Exhibiting artists are professors Collier L. Hyams, Matt Deford and Corbin R. Wayne Covher; Associate Professor and Department Head Leslie Gruesbeck; assistant professors Edgar Cano-López, Sean Callander and Jennifer Robison; and graduate instructors Michael Stephenson, Jude McCully, Pete Gorham and Jillian Kerneen.
The show is curated by Katharine D. Scherff, assistant professor of art history and Hanchey Gallery director. Information is available from Scherff at scherffk@nsula.edu.