Ava Will Host Community Scholars Workshop March 8-10

The City of Ava will be hosting a Community Scholars Workshop March 8-10 in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri Arts Council and Missouri Folk Arts Program.
The Missouri Folk Arts Program is building a statewide network of community scholars through workshops series for citizens with a keen interest in documenting community arts, promoting local culture, and sharing Missouri’s traditions with a wider audience. “After a successful first year of regional workshops in West Plains, St. Louis and Springfield that reached nearly 40 Missourians, a core group of community scholars will return for more advanced training.
This second workshop series kicks off in Ava this weekend. Here participants will practice documenting Ava’s unique places, people and culture. The small town of Ava has big impact in Missouri’s folk and traditional arts. The late Edna Mae Davis and Bob Holt, as well as current residents Alvie Dooms and Cathy Marriott, each a “master artist” in Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, have called Ava home.
During the two and a half day workshop, participants will be introduced to a variety of media options for presenting digital images, audio, and video including PowerPoint presentations, audio slideshows, and films.
Ava City Clerk Marilyn Alms will provide a tour for the workshop, and participants will dance with Junior and Cathy Marriott, both widely recognized master artists.
The workshop will culminate with a short audio-visual product produced by participants that the Missouri Folk Arts Program will share with Ava officials.