Register for Summer Community Scholars Training Program at A-State Heritage Sites

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Southern Tenant Farmers Museum

The next installment of the Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts Community Scholars Training Program — a free training opportunity for Arkansans interested in finding, documenting and presenting community culture, folklife and traditional arts — begins June 7 in Dyess, in collaboration with the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and Museum and the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum. Both locations are part of A-State's Heritage Sites Network.

This program consists of two weekend training sessions held June 7-8 and July 26-27. During the program, participants will develop ideas for a project to practice the skills learned. Participants are required to commit to the entire training series, and registration is required. June sessions will be held in Dyess at the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and Museum, and July sessions will be at the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza.

Participants will gain skills in documenting and researching culture, archiving and presenting research, and developing projects in collaboration with community stakeholders and organizations. 

"The Community Scholars Program sessions were enjoyable and informative to me in my role at the museum - especially the discussions on exhibit labels, oral interviewing techniques and digital content," said Mary Clark, a spring 2022 Community Scholars Program alumna and board member of the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas. "The instructors were extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic and fun."

"It's such a pleasure to be able to bring this program to new communities throughout Arkansas," said Virginia Siegel, director of Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts. "This upcoming program in northeast Arkansas marks over a dozen iterations of this training series, and we are growing a truly inspiring group of Community Scholars program alumni across the state."

This training opportunity is free and open to the public. Visit folklife.uark.edu/scholar for more information. Contact Lauren Willette at willette@uark.edu or 479-575-4664 with questions or for help with the registration process. 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.