Governor's Arts Awards

The Arkansas Arts Council is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Governor’s Arts Awards program, according to Joy Pennington, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Council. The annual awards recognize Arkansans for their outstanding contributions to the arts community.

Nominations will be accepted in seven categories: Arts Community Development, Arts in Education, Corporate Sponsorship of the Arts, Individual Artist, Folklife, Patron and Lifetime Achievement. Each nomination will be judged on the significance of the contributions made, the range of the individuals and groups served and the length of time and degree of the activity or contributions.

Governor’s Arts Awards nomination forms are available from the Arkansas Arts Council at (501) 324-9766, at info@arkansasarts.org or the Arts Council website at www.arkansasarts.org. The deadline for nominations is May 2, 2008. The recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony and luncheon during the ArtLinks 2008 Annual Arts Conference in Little Rock in October.

The Arkansas Arts Council was established in 1971 to develop and implement a comprehensive statewide program for the support of the arts in Arkansas. The Arts Council carries out a program of services and grants-in-aid supporting arts endeavors that have significance and that encourage and assist artists in achieving standards of professional excellence. In addition, the Arts Council assists other relevant arts projects including surveys, research and planning for the arts.

The Arkansas Arts Council is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage (DAH) and shares the goals of all of its agencies, that of preserving and enhancing the heritage of the state of Arkansas. Other DAH agencies are: Arkansas Historic

Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Old State House Museum. Funding for the Arkansas Arts Council and its programs is provided by the State of Arkansas and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Toad Suck Daze Goody Bags

Calling ALL AREtsy Members! We have talked for some time now about spreading the word in the Natural State about our group of wonderfully talented crafters and artists. Here is our first opportunity. Toad Suck Daze is the first weekend in May. One of our members has a booth and will be putting together AREtsy Goody Bags to hand out free. This is a excellent way to get your shop name noticed. The event typically has attendance of 300,000 people that travel from all over the state and some from even further distances.

Think how cool it would be to have your shop business card or promotional item in the AREtsy Goody Bag. We are hoping to make 200 + bags, but any amount of promotional items you can send would be appreciated. Please send your items by April 23rd, and email Cyndi if you do not already have her address! Thanks!

If you have any questions or ideas, please email Cyndi@TheTwistedPurl.com. Let's get the word out and show the state what we are all about!

We Chat...Where are You?

Our little Arkansas Street Team is a pretty chatty group! You may have noticed this in all the emails that go on back and forth between everyone in our yahoo group. But did you know about our board in the Etsy Teams & Events Forum?

This weeks board can be found HERE.

The forums is a great place to chat and really get to know one another.

A special thank you to Laurie, glassbead on Etsy, who keeps us updated with a new board every week or so and she does an amazing job at it! Be sure to check out all her goodies on Etsy! Below is a gorgeous lampwork necklace she has done. Her work is even more breath taking in person.

So...what are you waiting for? Get over to the forum and start typing!

It's All About the Tag!

Once a week the wonderful folks at Etsy Labs produces a new team tip for us to ponder over and discuss. Last weeks tip is all about tags and how to effectively use them for our team.


Our team tag is "AREtsy"


Be sure to add this tag to all your items when you list them on Etsy. This is a great way for other AREtsy members to share other Arkansas crafters with their friends and family.


***For those who are not sure what is meant by tags...when you add a new item to your Etsy Shop, the first page is your item title, description, and list of materials. The second page is the "Sort Your Item" page and this is where you enter in the tags that describe your item. This is where you should add "aretsy" as one of your tag options.***


As our group grows, it is becoming more and more difficult to get all of our shops on a page to hand out or use as bag stuffers. We can always share the tag "AREtsy" with people to let them know a way to find more of us through Etsy.

The beautiful tags above are from casserole's shop on Etsy.

The below image can be taken and put on your own blogs or websites, if you like. If you click on the picture it should take you right to the AREtsy Search Query on Etsy.