Arkansas Arts Council Rewards Nine Artists

The Arkansas Arts Council, in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, proclaimed the winners of its annual Individual Artist Fellowships. The group comprises nine artists in different categories, each of whom has been elected to receive a $4,000 prize. The categories of this year’s event were Sculpture & Art Installation, Dance Choreography, and Writing of Novels.

The nine winners will be honored at the reception, which has been scheduled to take place at the Walton Arts Center at 495 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville on Sunday, October 6. The AAC’s press release has published biographies of the nine artists as follows:

Sculpture and Installation Art

Holly Laws from Mayflower got her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a Master’s degree in Fine Arts in sculpture at Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia. She is among the “Women to Watch 2019: Heavy Metal Touring Exhibition.” In 2018, Laws was the representative of the Arkansas State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She also works at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway as an associate professor.

Linda Nguyen Lopez, a ceramic artist, is from Fayetteville. Lopez got her Bachelor’s degree in Arts in art education as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in studio art and in ceramics at California State University in Chico. Lopez subsequently got her Master’s degree in Fine Arts in studio art and ceramics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has presented her work in numerous states across the country. In 2019, Lopez won a Residency Fellowship Award in the city of Milan in Italy. One year earlier, she was rewarded in the context of Artists 360 program by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. In 2017, two years prior to the event regarded in this article, Lopez received a Greenwich House Pottery Fellowship in the city of New York.

Greely Myatt from West Memphis got his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the Delta State University of Mississippi. Myatt subsequently earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts in Oxford, at the University of Mississippi. Myatt used to work as a professor in Tennessee, at the University of Memphis. He has presented his work broadly on the territory of the United States.

Dance Choreography

Matthew Boyce from North Little Rock got an education at the Montclair State University. He also trained with Deborah Mitchell at the New Jersey Tap Ensemble. Boyce has been performing and competing for almost two decades. He also has teaching experience as he used to teach dance in his hometown and in New Jersey alike, as well as at the University of Arkansas. Boyce currently works as an educator at the Arkansas Repertory Theater.

Robin Neveu Brown from North Little Rock concentrated on performance, dance writing, collaborative process, choreography based on research, and teaching, and subsequently got her Master’s degree in Fine Arts. Earlier, Brown got her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Gainesville, at the University of Florida. Brown currently teaches dance at the University of Arkansas in her hometown as an assistant professor. She teaches dance history, dance science, choreography, kinesiology, and ballet at the same school. Additionally, Brown teaches site-specific dance as well as community dance.

Paiyin Lin-Mros from Hot Springs is a professional Chinese traditional dancer. She has also trained Buhto. It is a performance practice that dates back to the 20th-century Japan. The practice comprises techniques in movement, dance, and performance. She has made a contribution to the work of several studios, theatres, and groups by working as a set designer, stage manager, instructor, and director, as well as performer. Lin-Mros has also collaborated with That Theater Troupe. She also works for the Taiwanese Wind and Ears Studio as an assistant director.

Writing of Novels

Tyrone Jaeger, residing in Conway, works as an educator at Hendrix College, teaching English language and creative writing. Jaeger got a Master’s degree as well as a Ph.D. in English. He finished his studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to earning a Master and a Ph.D., Jaeger got his Bachelor’s degree in English in Florida, at Rollins College. He has published several papers, including “The Runaway Note,” “So Many True Believers,” and “Radio Eldorado.” Various esteemed journals have published his work over the years. Jaeger currently works as a columnist for The Oxford American.

Monica Clark-Robinson from Alexander got her Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree at the Missouri State University and the Michigan State University respectively. “Standing on Her Shoulders” and “Let the Children March” are among her publications. Clark-Robinson used to work as an educator at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She currently works at Central Arkansas Library System as a children’s librarian. Among her notable accomplishments is her collaboration with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

John Vanderslice from Conway works as an educator at the University of Central Arkansas, teaching in the Department of Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing. He got his Ph.D. in Lafayette, at the University of Louisiana. Vanderslice finished his Bachelor and Master studies at the University of Virginia and George Mason University respectively. Aside from his book of short stories entitled “Island Fog,” Vanderslice published the novel “The Last Days of Oscar Wilde.” Overall, Vanderslice published almost seventy short stories in various journals.