Helping Hands sponsors RHS art show

Rector High School students Nick McCord (left) and Shane Newman help art teacher Carolyn Caldwell arrange beautiful drawings and paintings for an RHS art show Friday, April 17, sponsored by the Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation. The show is open to the public and will be open all day at the Crockett building on South Main Street.
(Democrat photo/Nancy Kemp)

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The event will take place all day Friday, April 17, at the Crockett building on South Main Street and is open to the public.

RHS art teacher Carolyn Caldwell said she also will open the show for a few hours Thursday morning and briefly after lunch Thursday afternoon. Area residents are encouraged to go by the exhibit to see the remarkable talents of the local students.

The show will feature the involvement of Rector native Dr. Paul Frets, who showcased his own considerable talents at the location last year in an art show held during Labor Day weekend.

Frets' involvement with the art department has been a welcome addition.

"Dr. Frets has been invaluable," Caldwell said. "When he came here last year with his show, the pieces he had done which emphasized design really changed the way some of our students looked at art as a possible career. It gave them an entirely new perspective."

Caldwell said part of what makes Frets so helpful in working with her students is his ability to relate to artists of all ages.

"He can communicate with seventh graders and seniors alike. How many college professors do you know who can do that?"

The Rector students also will take part in a show May 1 through 9 at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott. They will be featured in a public showing May 22 at the Piggott Community Center.

"The shows benefit the students because they allow them to share their talent with the community," Caldwell said. "It lets them take something they've created and share it with everyone else."

The RHS Helping Hands Foundation was established in 2006 by Rector native Bill Carter of Lebanon, Tenn., and his former classmate George Barker (Major General, U.S Army retired) of New York, to meet the short-term financial needs of disadvantaged Rector students. Since its inception, the Foundation has helped hundreds of students through the purchase of clothing, athletic equipment, band instruments, money for meals, dental care, health care, funds for field trips and much more.