2020

The Lost Arts Workshop Series Debuts at the Harlin with Basket-Weaving Workshop by Michelle Werther

Published on by Vicki Martin

       

The Lost Arts Workshop Series, a new series of workshops sponsored by the Harlin Museum that focus on artisan skills and crafts from simpler times, debuted this weekend on Saturday, February 22nd in the Harlin’s lower-level classroom area. The workshop, taught by instructor Michelle Werther from Protem, MO, was a limited-seating workshop.

Five area ladies came to learn how to use rattan and oak to create a small market basket with a typical basket-weave method. The workshop, which cost $40 and included all the supplies for the price, began at 10 am and ended with five happy participants that leFt with lovely market baskets that they created themselves.

The Lost Arts Series will continue with other planned workshops, including Canning From Your Garden, Leather Working, Black-Smithing, Broom-making, etc, plus additional basket-weaving workshops. Watch our social media and website for future workshop announcements and let us know what kinds of workshops you’d like to see in this series!

Upcoming Entry Dates for Annual High School Art Show Competition & Young Artist Showcase

Published on by Vicki Martin

The Harlin Museum Board of Directors announces the upcoming entry dates for their 2020 High School Art Show Competition as being this Friday, February 7th (12 pm – 6 pm) and Saturday, February 8th (12 pm – 4 pm). In addition to these regular entry dates, the board will be allowing late entries on Sunday, February 9th (12 pm – 4 pm) for an additional entry fee of $5.00 per entry piece.

The competition, which is open to all public, private, and home-schooled high school students of the Southern Missouri & Northern Arkansas Ozarks region, limits 2 pieces of artwork per artist with an entry fee of $5.00 per entry. Prizes for Best of Show and 1st, 2nd, & 3rd places, plus Honorable Mentions, will be awarded in each category, along with prize money amounts; categories will be determined by the types of entries received. An Artists’ Reception will be held on February 29 from 5 pm-7 pm with food, drinks, and music during which awards will be handed out. All friends, family, and the public at large are invited to attend.

Artists can find guidelines for the competition at HERE or at the museum. All entries will need to be brought to the museum on one of the entry dates and artists will need to fill out an entry form in order to be eligible for prizes.

In conjunction with the High School Show, the museum board will also be hosting the Young Artist Showcase for artists younger than high school age. Parents/teachers/guardians may bring their young artist’s work to the museum for the display on any of the High School Show entry dates. There are no content/size guidelines or framing requirements for the showcase; these pieces will not be part of the competition portion of the show and will not be awarded prizes, however, certain pieces may be chosen for the honor of becoming fundraising postcards for the museum’s gift shop (with permission of the artist/artist’s guardian).

The Harlin’s Annual High School Art Show Competition & Young Artist Showcase will be on display in the Hathcock Gallery from February 13 – March 1st.

For more information, please contact the Museum Desk at (417) 256-7801 or follow the link above to the competition guideline page for Points of Contact info (at the bottom of the guideline page).

2020 Quilting & Textile Art Competition Show on display until February 9th

Published on by Vicki Martin

The 2020 Quilting and Textile Arts Competition Show is now underway at the Harlin Museum. The exhibit, which is open to the public with free admission, is a gallery show featuring both the competition quilts and textile art pieces entered by contestants from all around the Ozarks. The display also includes historic textile pieces from the museum’s permanent collection and a few new pieces on loan from private quilt & textile collectors of the area.

Textiles have long been an important part of history in the Ozarks, from raising animals for their fiber to carding, spinning, and weaving those fibers into beautiful pieces of wearable art, household bedding, and other miscellaneous textile items. Each piece tells a story of the heritage, history, accomplishment, and relationships of the maker while also serving many useful and practical purposes.

Historic textile pieces exhibited in this year’s show include a friendship quilt made by the employees of the International Shoe Company that was gifted to a co-worker on the occasion of her retirement, two quilts made by groups that met at Grimmett School on the old Siloam Springs route near Pomona, MO., as well as several quilts completed by various local church groups over the years and donated to the museum’s permanent collection, and even one quilt that made it all the way home from the front lines of the Civil War.

The competition portion of the Harlin’s annual show was expanded this year from the existing adult division to include a youth division for textile artists age 17 and younger. This decision was prompted both by a recent change in leadership at the museum and by the donation of a memorial award to the museum by the Mark Warren Family of Pomona, Missouri.  The Carrie A. Warren-Gentry Talent in Textile Arts Memorial Award recognizes excellence in youth who show talent in the textile arts, a life-long passion of the award’s namesake who passed away in 2010. This award, which includes a one-hundred-dollar prize to the top winner of the youth division, is now a permanent addition to the museum’s textile show.

Out of the 14 entrants to the competition this year, there were 12 entries to the Adult Division and 12 entries to the youth division. The award for Best of Show went to Alma Pruett of Cabool, MO for her Blue Stack & Wack quilt entry. In the Adult Division, Quilting Category, 1st place went to Dee Graham of Pomona, MO for her purple Heart entry; 2nd place to Kaye Huff of West Plains, MO for her entry named Tranquility; 3rd place also went to Alma Pruett for her quilt, Light & Dark Christmas; and a Special Merit Award was given to Gena Stout of West Plains, MO for her entry, Shibori Indigo Quilt, whose quilt squares were embellished using the Shibori method, a unique Japanese dyeing technique. In the Textile Arts Category, 1st place went to Gena Stout of West Plains, MO for her knitted garment, Transformational Wrap; 2nd place went to Geraldine Richardson of Houston, MO for her embellished wall hanging, Butterfly Spring; 3rd place went to Gena Stout for her handwoven tunic, Purple Passion; and an Honorable Mention also went to Mrs. Stout for her handwoven rug entry, Sentimental Memories, a rug woven from men’s neckties that the artist collected from her grandfather, father, husband, and son. A second Honorable Mention was awarded to Angela Bullard of West Plains, MO for her felted wool landscape, Fuchsia Sky.

In the Youth Division, the top winner of the Warren-Gentry Memorial Award went to Alexis McGhee of West Plains, MO for her quilt entry, Cats; 1st place in the Quilting Category went to Olivia Wood of Willow Springs, MO for her quilt, Rosebud; and 2nd place went to Myles McGhee of West Plains, MO for his entry, The Farm Quilt. In the Youth Division, Textile Arts Category, 1st place was awarded to Jackson Hufstedler of West Plains, MO for his crocheted entry, Americana Infant Blanket; 2nd place went to Clark Martin of West Plains, MO for his entry, Patchwork Pillow; 3rd place went to Lily Dixon of West Plains, MO for her embroidered handmade garment, Flower Apron; an Honorable Mention went to Rylee Brown of West Plains, MO for her crocheted Hat #1 and a second Honorable Mention went to Gabby Voshell of West Plains, MO for her entry, Rag Skirt.

Prizes will be awarded to the winners of the competition at the artist’s reception during Gala Night at the Museum from 5 pm-7 pm on Saturday, February 8, 2020. Gala Night will feature food, drinks, live music by Sean McCormick, and a wool spinning demonstration by the Harlin’s featured Artist of the Month, Mary Palmer-Scott of Mary’s Little Lambs. All are encouraged to attend.

The Harlin Museum’s 2020 Quilting & Textile Arts Competition Show is on display in the museum’s Hathcock Gallery until Sunday, February 9th.

The Harlin Museum Board of Directors Announces the Election of New Officers

Published on by Vicki Martin

The Harlin Museum is pleased to announce the addition of two new officers to its board of directors following their officer elections at the December board meeting.

To the office of President of the Board of Directors, board members elected West Plains resident and former board Vice President, Vicki Warren-Martin.  Ms. Martin, a board member since 2018, operates her own freelance media marketing service and is also the museum’s IT Manager and PR Coordinator. Her interests include art, photography, regional & world history, and philanthropy.

To the office of Vice President of the Board of Directors, members elected West Plains resident Cleo Cockrum, Ed.D. Ms. Cockrum, a board member since 2018, has a doctorate in Developmental Education Administration and also serves as the museum’s Gallery Manager. Her interests include quilting and textile arts, local history, personal genealogical study, and spending time with her friends & family.

The offices of Board Secretary and Board Treasurer continue to be occupied by Ms. Septembre (Temi) Lasater, a board member since 2018. Ms. Lasater is a life-long Ozarks resident and a graduate of SMSU-WP with a cow-calf operation in Howell County. Her interests include local/regional history, folkways, and genealogical research. She is also an active member of the Ozarks Chapter of the Missouri Archaeological Society.

Please join us in congratulating these ladies on their newly-elected positions!  

If you are interested in volunteering at the museum or in joining the Harlin Museum Board, please send an email to the board with “VOLUNTEER REQUEST” in the subject line and send it to the following email address:

Or you may contact the museum at (417) 256-7801; please leave a message with your name and contact information regarding your request.