4-H artwork going on display at Ritz

Mississippi County 4-H'ers will display original their art, photography and crafts at the Ritz Civic Center for the next two weeks as part of their summer "I Heart the Arts" program.

According to Torya Woods, County Extension agent for 4-H in Mississippi County, 4H'ers from Blytheville, Gosnell, Manila and Osceola participated in several arts-related camps and activities over the past several months, and the artwork generated as a result of those activities will be part of the display.

Included in the activities was a week-long day camp where participants learned several different skills, including puppet-making, arts and crafts, sketching and art with pastels. In addition, 4H'ers participated in photography walks and submitted their best work to the 4-H Ross Photography contest.

Much of the work was also entered in the Mississippi County and Northeast Arkansas District fairs, and their awards from those fairs will be on display with the work.

"The 4-H program offers a wide variety of activities and educational opportunities," Woods said. "We are so pleased the Ritz is giving us the chance to spotlight the artistic talents of our county 4H'ers."

This coming Saturday, Oct. 5, 4H'ers from across the county will participate in two nationwide 4-H events. The first, One Day of Service, is an effort to encourage 4-H members to get out and make a difference in their communities. According to information provided by Woods, the Arkansas 4-H program first participated in One Day of Service in October 2012. On that day, more than 1,700 4H members volunteered 12,500 hours to various community service projects across the state.

This year, Mississippi County 4H'ers will volunteer at the Blytheville-Gosnell Area Food Pantry and Clothing Ministry from 10 a.m. until noon. Some 4H'ers plan to move on to other community service projects later in the day as well.

Other 4H'ers will move, after a pizza party for lunch, to the second nationwide event of the day, National 4-H Youth Science Day. This year's project for the event is a Maps and Apps geospatial mapping activity. 4H'ers all over the nation will design a park for their city, and then create an overlay grid map of that park.

For more information on the 4-H program, contact Woods at the Cooperative Extension Office at 870-762-2075.