Nescatunga Arts Council to Feature Alva High School Artists for First Friday Display at Runnymede; Nescatunga Arts Festival Work Continues, Booth Spaces Almost Full

ALVA, Okla. – The May First Friday event sponsored by Nescatunga Arts and Humanities Council members will feature artwork created by students from Alva High School on May 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Runnymede in downtown Alva.

Refreshments will be served.

Nescatunga is participating in the Alva Chamber of Commerce’s Fiesta Stroll, so be sure to pick up a Tarjeta de Loteria (bingo card) from the chamber office, Wisdom Heritage Bank, Holder Drug, Graceful Arts or the Rialto to play along by visiting and/or purchasing items from any Chamber member on the card. The filled-out cards should be delivered to the Woods County Courthouse lawn before 8 p.m. Friday to be entered into a prize drawing happening at 8:15 p.m. The Chamber will be serving street tacos and having some fun games on the lawn, along with everyone being able to visit the traditional artwalk areas.

55^th Nescatunga Arts Festival Planning Continues for June 5-6

Nearly all inside booth spaces have been reserved for the 55^th Nescatunga Arts Festival that will take place at the Alva Recreational Center on Friday, June 5, from 5-8 p.m. and Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Forty-four vendors have registered for this year’s events with a variety of crafts and fine arts items.

Currently, only two inside booth spaces are available, but if anyone wants to set up outside the building, there are spaces for that. Some space for students is also available for any student who doesn’t have enough artwork or crafts to have their own spaces. This student space is provided free of charge. An award for the top student artwork will be given from among those showing fine artwork in the student area. If students have several items to display and would like to be included in the judging against non-student fine artists, they would need to purchase a 10x10 space.

Volunteers Needed

Any group or individual who would like to volunteer to help during the festival is asked to do so using this form https://bit.ly/Nescatunga-Volunteers26. Volunteers to help with any pre-planning duties are also welcome.

Stipends for student groups registering to help will be available again this year. To receive this stipend, student groups must contain two adults and five students volunteering to help during the festival. The volunteers do not have to come at the same time, but they must check in to indicate they are there to help represent their registered group.

Food Trucks for Event Sought

The Council is also looking for various food trucks that would like to attend this year’s festival. If interested, contact Nescatunga president Heather Penner at 580-748-1905 or hlpenner91@gmail.com.

Gourmet Food Booth Needs Local Bakers’ Goodies

The Gourmet Food Booth, the Council’s biggest fundraiser to help raise funds for scholarships, workshops and the festival, will be open on both Friday and Saturday this year. The Nescatunga group isn’t able to have this booth without volunteer bakers and snack makers to provide their signature goodies, so everyone is greatly appreciated. Anyone who is willing to bring goodies is asked to contact the Council via a form at https://bit.ly/Gourmet-Food-Booth26.

Quilt Show Needs Quilts

The festival will once again have a Quilt Show to showcase the handiwork from those locally and in the area. Anyone who would like to display a quilt should submit information using the quilt form at https://bit.ly/Quilt-Show. Questions should be directed to Helena Leysar at hel_leysar@comcast.net.

Entertainment Time Slots Filled for Event

Cara Bradt is serving the Council as its Entertainment Chair and has filled all of the time slots for the two-day event.

NEW This Year: Festival Sponsorships Available

The Nescatunga Council has opened up Sponsorship Levels to help fund this year’s annual festival. Sponsorship packages from $50 to $1,000+ are available with varying levels of incentives. Sponsors could include donating to help where the Council needs it, or names could be displayed showing a sponsor has provided funds for the Best of Show Award in the fine arts category, or sponsoring the entertainment provided each day, children’s activities, advertising for the festival and more. Sponsors' names will be prominently displayed at the festival and through other public channels. If interested, please contact Penner at 580-748-1905.

Council Membership Information

Council members are currently working toward rebuilding their membership with past and new members who would like to support the arts. One-year membership fees are still only $25. The Council is also providing incentives to be a member by providing four $5 discounts a year to workshops and events sponsored by the Council, plus $5 off a Nescatunga Arts Festival booth space. Upon payment, a membership card containing four numbers that can be checked off when attending a Nescatunga workshop, and one spot to check off for a festival booth space, will be issued, ultimately returning the $25 membership fee if all five spaces are used.

This $25 investment helps the Council fund the annual Nescatunga Arts Festival, First Friday Artwalk events, workshops, student scholarships, and more.

Members of all kinds are welcome, whether they are silent supporters who want to provide funds to support the organization each year or those who are creative and would like to provide workshops, exhibit artwork and help where needed. Members can also volunteer to provide refreshments at First Friday Artwalk events, or be the people who are willing to provide their help in whatever is needed for any of the Council’s activities.

Membership fees, donations and sponsorships are tax-deductible.

Checks may be mailed to P.O. Box 152, Alva, OK 73717, or payments may be made via Nescatunga’s PayPal account at https://paypal.me/NescatungaArts or by searching for the email NescatungaArts@yahoo.com within the service. Memberships may also be purchased at any workshop or event that the Council sponsors.

Any questions may be directed to Penner or emailed to NescatungaArts@yahoo.com.

Additional information about the Nescatunga Arts and Humanities Council can be found at www.nescatunga.org.

The Council’s next meeting is on May 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Runnymede.

The next First Friday event that Nescatunga Council members will sponsor will be Aug. 7. Anyone who would like to come paint rocks or bookmarks is welcome to do so for a small fee of $10 payable at the door. All supplies will be provided.

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