Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > Arkansas PBS receives Mid-America Arts Alliance grant
Posted 06 Aug 2020
Grant will fund slam poetry camp, outreach event in 2021
CONWAY, Ark. (Arkansas PBS) — Arkansas PBS is among a select group of regional artists and organizations to receive a Mid-America Arts Alliance grant. This award, under literature, will support the network’s Say My Piece Slam Poetry Camp in June 2021, as well as a related outreach event.
“The Say My Piece Slam Camp will help nurture the next generation of Arkansas’s poetic voices and propel a statewide youth poetry movement,” Arkansas PBS Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger said. “We are grateful to the Mid-America Arts Alliance for providing crucial funding that will allow these young artists to express their emotions and unique perspectives through spoken word.”
The four-day camp is slated for June 2021 at the Arkansas PBS headquarters in Conway, followed by an outreach event in Pine Bluff. During the camp, 25 middle and high school students, recommended by Central Arkansas teachers and principals, will convene at the Arkansas PBS facility to learn about poetry and poetry slam, and to present their work to an audience as a “slam” presentation in Pine Bluff on the night following the camp.
Funding for Arkansas PBS’s Mid-America grant is drawn from generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts, Arkansas Arts Council, and foundations, corporations, and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
“Arkansas PBS is to be commended for their commitment to serving their community with this distinctive event,” Todd Stein, Mid-America CEO, said. “Mid-America Arts Alliance is proud to help support this work and Arkansas PBS.”
Mid-America Arts Alliance, the nation’s oldest regional arts organization, was founded in 1972 to foster cultural growth in heartland communities. Mid-America Arts Alliance strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region and beyond. We are especially committed to enriching the cultural life of underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful, and accessible arts and culture programs and services. Additional information is available at maaa.org.
Arkansas PBS is Arkansas’s only statewide public media network, which enhances lives by providing lifelong learning opportunities for people from all walks of life. Arkansas PBS delivers daily, essential, local, award-winning productions and classic, trusted PBS programs aimed at sharing Arkansas and the world with viewers through multiple digital platforms, including on-demand services and YouTube TV, and the distinct channels Arkansas PBS, Arkansas PBS Create, Arkansas PBS KIDS, Arkansas PBS WORLD and Arkansas PBS AIRS on SAP. Members with Arkansas PBS Passport have extended on-demand access to a rich library of public television programming. Arkansas PBS depends on the generosity of Arkansans and the State of Arkansas to continue offering quality programming. Additional information is available at myarkansaspbs.org. Arkansas PBS is broadcast on KETS (Little Rock), KEMV (Mountain View), KETG (Arkadelphia), KAFT (Fayetteville), KTEJ (Jonesboro) and KETZ (El Dorado).
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