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Category Archives: Gordon Parks Museum
Gordon Parks Museum Receives Humanities Kansas SHARP Recovery Grant
TOPEKA – Humanities Kansas recently awarded a SHARP Recovery Grant in the amount of $2,750 to the Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, KS. Kirk Sharp serves as project director.
The mission of the Gordon Parks Museum is to celebrate the life and work of Gordon Parks, internationally known photographer, filmmaker, writer and musician; and to use his remarkable life story to teach about artistic creativity, cultural awareness and the role of diversity in our lives.
The museum’s valuable collection includes many of Gordon’s famous photographs, awards, medals and honorary degrees, as well as replica furnishings from his apartment in New York.
The SHARP Recovery Grants support Kansas cultural organizations that provide humanities programming and are facing financial hardship due to the coronavirus.
Grants are for general operating support, staff retention, and needed digital and/or operational transitions for cultural work in the post-pandemic era. Humanities Kansas awarded 121 SHARP grants statewide.
“Humanities Kansas is honored to be able to support Kansas cultural organizations as we recover from the impact of Covid,” said Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “This past year has demonstrated that Kansans lean into the humanities during challenging times. Kansas cultural organizations that do work in the humanities provide important social connections and contribute to the economic well-being and strength of our communities.”
Funds have been made available through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to assist cultural institutions affected by the coronavirus as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden.
About Humanities Kansas
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, HK’s pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with statewide partners and supporters, HK inspires all Kansans to draw on diverse histories, literatures, and cultures to enrich their lives and to serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
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Gordon Parks Celebration: Education, Entertainment, Art, and Fun
The annual Gordon Parks Celebration in Fort Scott did not happen last year.
“We were not able to have 17th annual celebration last year due to COVID, so we wanted to make up for that misfortune and combine them both for this year and make it the 17th and 18th annual celebration,” Kirk Sharp, director of the Gordon Parks Museum on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, said.
This year there are three full days to look at the past and encourage creativity and activism in the future.
The activities are listed by day:
Thursday, October 7
A photo exhibit in the Lunt Lobby of the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2401 S. Horton will feature a photo contest, whose theme was “Fashion and Diversity.” Winners of the contest will be announced at the Fort Scott Chamber Coffee. The contest is sponsored by Merl Humphrey Photography, Fort Scott.
“Also part of the photo exhibit will be some of The Gordon Parks Mercy Foundation Collection with Gordon’s photos and poems, and behind the scenes photographs of the film Shaft and The Learning Tree,” Sharp said. “We will also have a promotional display of the Gordon Park: Homeward to the Prairie I Come Exhibition that is taking place now until May 2022 at the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University.”
There will be a sign and mural display featuring Gordon Parks at the Lowell Milken Center For Unsung Heroes, 1 S. Main, and also at the Riverfront Park, 400 N. National.
From 8-9 a.m., the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee will be a Gunn Park, Shelter House 1, hosted by the Gordon Parks Museum. This weekly coffee will announce the grand opening and ribbon-cutting event of The Learning Tree Film Scene Sign Trail.
In case of inclement weather, the event will be in the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium.
9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m., The film The Learning Tree will be shown at the Gordon Parks Museum, FREE – Introduced by Kyle Johnson.
10 a.m. – 3: p.m., Registration for the celebration opens (Outside of Museum)
10 a.m. – 3 p.m., “Mayhew Cemetery” and “Homeward to the Prairie, I Come Exhibition” table displays will be available at the museum.
11:50 a.m. – 1 p.m., “Gordon Parks: Fort Scott and The Learning Tree Revisited” is a free lunch and learn at the Ellis Center. Local historian Arnold Schofield will open with a short presentation on the history of Gordon Parks and his return visit to his hometown of Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1950, as documented in the book Back to Fort Scott. Schofield will then introduce keynote speaker, John Edgar Tidwell, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Kansas for a presentation on The Learning Tree legacy, comparing and contrasting the book and film. The presentation will also cover the importance of the cultural and historical impact of them both, along with the story and subject matter compared to today.
Box lunches with sandwich wraps, desserts, and drinks are available in the lobby for $8 – to purchase that day – or bring your lunch and grab available desserts and join the lunch and learn.
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., There will be a guided trolley tour of Gordon Parks’ Fort Scott & The Learning Tree film scene locations. Meet at the entrance of the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center to see the places in Fort Scott that are part of Gordon Parks’ history. (Fee: $7)
2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., Showing of the film Moments Without Proper Names (Gordon Parks Museum, FREE).
“Moments without Proper Names is a film directed by Gordon Parks in 1986,” Sharp said. “This film has a wonderful mixture of Gordon’s iconic photos that he has taken during his career and his most updated photographic work during that time along with some of his musical compositions. It is narrated by actors Avery Brooks, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Joe Seneca.”
6:45 p.m. – 7 p.m., “Gordon Parks: Homeward to the Prairie I Come” Exhibition (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium, FREE).
Aileen Wang, curator at Kansas State University’s Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art will discuss the current exhibition that features photographs that were donated by Parks to K.S.U., in 1973 and work by the photographer, Doug Barrett.
The social hour starts at 6 p.m. with wine and light refreshments available.
7 p.m., “All things Kansas” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium, FREE) – Doug Barrett, photographer and videographer based in Manhattan, Kansas, will share some of his work and show how Gordon Parks continues to inspire contemporary artists. Barrett covers all things in the American Midwest. Some of his recognized work includes his project started in 2018 documenting homeless veterans living on the streets across America. He is currently documenting the black community on Yuma Street in Manhattan, Kansas, and covered the civil unrest last year within black America. This performance was supported in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Friday, October 8
9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Registration open (outside of Gordon Parks Museum)
9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m., “All things Kansas, Part 2” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center, FREE) – Doug Barrett, photographer, and videographer will continue the presentation of his work and show how Gordon Parks continues to inspire contemporary artists.
10 a.m. – 3 p.m., “Mayhew Cemetery” and “Homeward to the Prairie I Come Exhibition” (Gordon Parks Museum/FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center).
10:05 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., “A Conversation with Choice of Weapon Honorees.” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium, FREE) – The 2021 “Choice of Weapons Award” honorees, Kyle Johnson and Eli Reed.
11:30 a.m. – noon, “I Needed Paris”(FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium, FREE) – With Michael Cheers, Associate Professor of Photojournalism, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, San Jose State University.
This will be the launch event for the immersive educational experience that will take a group of diverse American and Parisian student photographers through Paris, traversing the same streets and neighborhoods as Gordon Parks. These students will reimagine Gordon’s spirit as a fashion photographer while using the same type of camera Gordon used – twin lens reflex film cameras. Student participants will style and photograph their models at some of the same locations chosen by Parks.
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m., “Children of the Promised Land” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium, FREE), Lunch and Learn.
Angela Bates, executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, will explore the lives of free-born children after the Civil War. Nicodemus, Kansas, a small unincorporated town in Graham County, is the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War.
“Children of the Promised Land” is part of Humanities Kansas’ Movement of Ideas Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement. The program is brought to the community by Humanities Kansas.
Sack lunches are available in the lobby for $8 – to purchase that day, or bring your lunch.
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m., “Book Club Presentation, A Choice of Weapons” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center, FREE) – With John Mason, Associate Professor, Associate Chair, University of Virginia Department of History and Eli Reed, Choice of Weapon Honoree.
Hosted by Susie Arvidson, Fort Scott Community College Librarian. Snacks and drinks will be provided.
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m., “Eli Reed, Photography Collection of Works” – Photographer, author, and Choice of Weapons Honoree Reed, will provide a short presentation of some of his photography.
3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m., African-American Suffragists Exhibit Reveal (Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, 1 S. Main St., FREE). Come to the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes for the unveiling of a new panel exhibit featuring Kansas suffragists Mamie Dillard and Carrie Langston Hughes. Also, visit the Unsung Heroes Park, where Gordon Parks is one of the featured signs. (Refreshments available).
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Guided trolley tour of Gordon Parks’ Fort Scott & The Learning Tree film scene locations.
Meet at the entrance of the Ellis Center and see the places in Fort Scott that are part of Gordon Parks’ history. (Fee: $7)
7:30 p.m., “A Night of Hot Jazz and R&B” (The River Room, 3 W. Oak St.) – Featuring, Dominique Hammons, multi-talented contemporary jazz, and R&B violinist.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with a cash bar available. All seats are reserved (fee: $30.00 each or $35 at the door). Supported in part by Peerless Products, Inc. in Fort Scott.
Saturday, October 9th
9: a.m. to 3 p.m., Registration open (outside of Gordon Parks Museum)
9 a.m. – 3 p.m., “Mayhew Cemetery” and “Homeward to the Prairie I Come Exhibition” Table Display (Gordon Parks Museum/FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center)
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., “Just Talking about Shaft” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum, FREE).
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the film Shaft. University of Kansas film professor and Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott will host a conversation with David Parks about the film. David will share his insight and experience during the filming and Kevin will talk about the impact of the iconic film along with some behind-the-scenes clips of Gordon Parks directing and producing the film. (Coffee, water, juice, and light refreshments will be available.)
11 a.m. – noon., Panel Discussion, “Racism, Discrimination and Poverty” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum, FREE) – Join us for a panel discussion on racism, discrimination, and poverty. Gordon Parks used his camera and writings to fight against bigotry and poverty. People are using the same weapons as Gordon used to fight this same battle. Moderated by John Mason, Associate Professor, University of Virginia Department of History with featured panelists; Michael Cheers, Associate Professor, San Jose State University, Eli Reed, Choice of Weapons Honoree, Kyle Johnson, Choice of Weapons Honoree, Doug Barrett, photographer, and Robin Hickman-Winfield, CEO and Executive Producer of SoulTouch Productions and great-niece of Gordon Parks.
Noon – 1 p.m., “Picnic on the Patio” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center) – Join us for some great E3 hamburgers, along with chips, drinks, etc. Sponsored by E3 Meat Co.
1 – 1:30 p.m., “Reflections on the Commemoration and Celebration of Greenwood 2021” (FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum, FREE) – The presentation will cover the seven important events as seen by photographer Don Thompson as the historic Tulsa, Oklahoma, Greenwood District move forward from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to the future.
2:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., Showing of the film Shaft (Gordon Parks Museum, FREE) – Introduced by David Parks.
7 p.m., social hour starts at 6 p.m.), “Celebration Tribute Dinner” at the Liberty Theater, 113 S. Main St. This is an evening of celebration, dinner, and tribute; a 50th anniversary retrospective of the release of the film Shaft, and presentation of the 2021 “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” to Kyle Johnson and Eli Reed. All seats reserved (fee: $30.00 – reserve by Wednesday, October 6th).
Sunday, October 10
10 a.m., Breakfast at Crooner’s Lounge, at one of Fort Scott’s finest, 117 S. Main Street. Check out the menu at: fscrooners.com. Everyone pays for their food.
Schedule subject to change. Please check at www.gordonparkscenter.org for any updates.
Questions? Please call (620) 223-2700 ext. 5850 or email: [email protected]
The Gordon Parks Museum Board is comprised of Janice Fewins, Elouise Young, Jane Campbell, Latisha Kelley-Cook, Marion Stepps, Angel Wilson, Debra Wood, and ShayLynn Clements.
Chamber Coffee at Gunn Park on Oct. 7
Chamber Coffee will feature a Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting celebration for the The Learning Tree Film and Sign Trail
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to a Chamber Coffee event this Thursday, October 7th at 8 a.m. hosted by the Gordon Parks Museum at Gunn Park Shelter 1, 1010 Park Ave. The event will conclude with a ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand opening of The Learning Tree Film and Sign Trail with one of the trail signs in that location.
The Learning Tree motion picture was directed by Fort Scott’s native son Gordon Parks and Gunn Park was a primary scene location during the 1968 filming. The film was based on a semi-autobiographical novel that Gordon Parks wrote in 1963. Brochures and maps will be available at the Gordon Parks Museum and the Chamber of Commerce to identify all fourteen of the sign and scene locations included on the trail.
The Chamber Coffee will be the kick-off event of the combined 17th and 18th Annual Gordon Parks Celebration to be held this weekend and the full schedule of events may be found on gordonparkscenter.org.
Coffee, juice, and light refreshments will be served in addition to a door prize drawing. Contact the Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 for more information.
Gordon Parks “Celebration Tribune Dinner” Tickets On Sale
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Gordon Parks Immersive Educational Experience Oct. 8
Professor Duane “Michael” Cheers: “I needed Paris Launch Event” at the 2021 Gordon Parks Celebration
Fort Scott- Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, KS, will host “I needed Paris Launch Event,” a presentation and discussion by Professor, Duane “Michael” Cheers during the 2021 Annual Gordon Parks Celebration events on Friday, October 8th at 11:30 A.M. at The Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton St. Fort Scott, KS.
Members of the community are invited to attend the free presentation. Contact Kirk Sharp at 620 -223-2700 ext. 5850 for more information.
Duane “Michael’ Cheers, Associate Professor of Photojournalism, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, San Jose State University will provide a presentation and discussion launch event for the immersive educational experience that will take a group of diverse American and Parisian student photographers through Paris, traversing the same streets and neighborhoods as Gordon Parks. Prof. Cheers will help these students reimagine Parks’ panache as a fashion photographer and will help them recreate his black and white film photo techniques while using the same type of camera Gordon used – with twin lens reflex film cameras.
In 1948, Life magazine sent Gordon Parks who was 36 years old at the time, to Paris. He was to cover the French collections during fashion week. Not long after this, Parks was given a coveted assignment: two years in Life magazine’s Paris bureau. He would focus on photographing the latest fashions in the world’s fashion capital, Paris. Parks would more specifically take pictures of Americans in Paris. He would also be the magazine’s correspondent, using the lens of his camera to reveal scenes of a post-war Europe.
Contrary to many fashion photographers who did fashion shoots in studios, at that time, Parks, whose fashion photography had graced Vogue and Glamour magazines, photographed his fashion models mostly outdoors.
This project will showcase the diverse hues of women and men fashion models, unlike the Paris publications of the 1940s and early 1950s in which Black people were rarely seen. Student participants will style and photograph their models at some of the same locations chosen by Parks.
Part of this travel experience will be foundation of a book, “Blacks in Paris”, and it will feature some of our best photographs. This book will honor Parks as a documentary photographer. This project will also explore a close-knit community of the Black diaspora, known as “Little Africa”, mostly west and north African immigrants whose neighborhood area is now threatened by gentrification, much like the neighborhoods of Harlem, New York.
This print-on-demand picture book will be created in partnership with the Gordon Parks Museum, Fort Scott, Kansas, and with Ricki Stevenson’s Black Paris Tours. It will be published the latter part of 2022, the 30th anniversary of Songs of My People: African Americans, A Self-Portrait. Gordon Parks wrote the introduction to Songs of My People, and it was a best-selling coffee table picture book.
The student-photographers will receive academic credit for their published work. The proceeds from the sale of the book will assist the Gordon Parks Museum in their ongoing programming to promote cultural awareness and diversity in a global society.
The book launch and exhibition are scheduled for February 2023, at Fort Scott Community College.
The diverse pool of student-photographers will come from the photojournalism and photography departments
at San José State University, The George Washington University, and The Corcoran School of Art and Design.
For and other information email [email protected] or by phone call 223-2700, ext. 5850.
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Jazz and R&B Violinist Performs on Oct. 8
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The Learning Tree Tourism Trail Grand Opening is Oct. 7
The Gordon Parks Museum is pleased to announce the grand opening and ribbon-cutting event of the Learning Tree Film Trail and the “Lunch and Learn” presentation
“Gordon Parks: Fort Scott and The Learning Tree Revisited”.
The grand opening and ribbon cutting of the Learning Tree Film Trail will be Thursday, October 7, 2021, at 8:00 a.m.
The grand opening will be at Gunn Park, Shelter House #1, 1010 Park Ave. Fort Scott.
This is one of the locations that was used during filming in 1968.
Brochures with maps will be available to help locate the other signs on the trail.
This will be the kickoff event of the 17th & 18th Annual Gordon Parks Celebration events and will also be held in conjunction with the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee.
The film trail is a series of signs located at the different locations where the filming of The Learning Tree took place. The signs will also include QR codes along with a virtual tour of the identified scene locations of the film.
There will also be a “Lunch and Learn” presentation later the same day Thursday, October 7, 2021, with keynote speaker, John Edgar Tidwell, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Kansas.
The presentation titled “Gordon Parks: Fort Scott and The Learning Tree Revisited”.
This will be held at Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center from 11:50 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The event is free to the public and participants are able to bring their lunch and drinks with them. Box lunch and drink are available for $8. Dessert will also be available.
Local historian Arnold Schofield will open with a short presentation on the history of Gordon Parks and his return visit to his hometown of Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1950, as documented in the book Back to Fort Scott.
Mr. Schofield will then introduce keynote speaker, John Edgar Tidwell, for a presentation on Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree legacy in comparing and contrasting the book and film.
The presentation will also cover the importance of the cultural and historical impact of them both, along with the story and subject matter compared to today.
The Gordon Parks Museum has received a grant from the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation and Humanities Kansas to assist with funding support for this project.
The Gordon Parks Museum extends an invitation to the public to attend both of the events, especially the citizens of Fort Scott, Bourbon County, and the four-state area.
About Humanities Kansas
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
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Presentation Explores Lives of Free-Born Children after Civil War
Gordon Parks Museum at Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, KS, will host “Children of the Promised Land,” a presentation and discussion by Angela Bates during the 2021 Annual Gordon Parks Celebration events on Friday, October 8th at 12:15 P.M. at The Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton St. Fort Scott, KS.
Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact Kirk Sharp at 620 -223-2700 ext. 5850 for more information. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
“This is a Lunch and Learn event so everyone is welcome to bring their lunch and drinks. Sack Lunch and Drink for ($8-purchase) will be also be available,” said Museum Director, Kirk Sharp.
Nicodemus, a small, unincorporated town in Graham County, is the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War. Today the town is a National Historic Site. This pictorial history explores the unique experience of mothers and their children in Nicodemus, some of whom were the first members of their families born free.
Angela Bates is the executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society. She presents educational programs across the nation covering Nicodemus, Exodusters and black towns in the West, Buffalo Soldiers, and black women in the West.
“My great uncle, Henry Williams, was the first baby born in Nicodemus just a month after my great-grandmother Emma arrived with the first group of settlers in 1877,” said Bates. “He was one of the first in his generation born on the free soils of Kansas. He represents the many children of his generation that were reared by parents who were former slaves.”
“Children of the Promised Land” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Movement of Ideas
Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that
inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.
For more information about “Children of the Promised Land” contact the Gordon Parks
Museum at 620 -223-2700 ext. 5850 or visit http://www.gordonparkscenter.org/
About Humanities Kansas
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to
empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy.
Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented
and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our
partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and
culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call
home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
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Jazz and R and B Violinist Performs October 8
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2021 Gordon Parks Museum Photo Contest Starts
The 2021 Gordon Parks Museum to feature Photo Contest
Fort Scott, KS. -The Gordon Parks Museum at Fort Scott Community College, will feature a photo contest sponsored by Merl Humphrey Photography. This event is inspired by Gordon Parks, who started his career in fashion photography and chose a camera to fight against racism, discrimination, and poverty.
The theme of the contest, “Fashion and Diversity”, is for any amateur photographer. Photographers are invited to capture the essence of the theme.
Non-professional photographers of any age and skill level are invited to take pictures for the project and may enter up to two photos in JPEG format with less than 2MB. There will be a first place ($100), second place ($75) and third place ($50) prize and up to five honorable mentions. All photos submitted will be on exhibit at The Gordon Parks Museum and in the Ellis Family Fine Arts Center Oct. 7 – 9, 2021. All photos will also be posted on the Gordon Parks Museum website and Facebook page. Judges for the photo contest will be professional photographer, Veretta Cobler and established make-up artist and hair stylist, Donna Fumoso based in New York City.
Photographs must be submitted via e-mail to [email protected]. All photos must be attached in JPEG format and limit file size to less than 2 MB. All entries will be confirmed via email. Photographers should submit (in their email) a title, along with their name, address, email, phone number and share a one or two sentence on what inspired the photo. If under 10 years old, please include parent’s information. Photos should be received via email by Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at the latest.
For more information, email [email protected] or by phone call 223-2700, ext. 5850.
Jazz and R and B Violinist to Play October 8
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