Libraries to Offer Community Scholars Training in Pocahontas

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The next installment of the Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts Community Scholars Program — a free training opportunity for Arkansans interested in finding, documenting and presenting community culture, folklife and traditional arts — begins Feb. 10 at the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas. Participants will gain skills in documenting and researching culture, archiving and presenting research and developing projects in collaboration with community stakeholders.

This program consists of five sessions held every other week from Feb. 10 through April 7. During the program, participants will develop a project to practice the skills learned. Participants are required to commit to the entire training series, and registration is required.

"We're really excited to be able to offer this training to Arkansans," said Virginia Siegel, coordinator for Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts. "We recognize and honor that community members are the experts of their communities' culture. This free training provides tools and skills so that community scholars have the resources to document and preserve their communities' important stories and traditions."

The next session of the Community Scholars Program will be held in Fayetteville this summer. 

Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is a statewide program of the University of Arkansas Libraries dedicated to building cross-cultural understanding by documenting, presenting and sustaining Arkansas' living traditional arts and cultural heritage.