The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recognized students and their works of arts and literature during the annual Arts and Humanities Research Capstone Symposium Awards ceremony on May 9.
The Arts and Humanities Research Capstone Symposium was held May 6. During the symposium, students presented and discussed the works of art and literature they crated for their capstone projects. Every ASMSA student is required to complete a capstone project during their academic career at the school. Students may choose topics throughout the mathematics, sciences, and arts and humanities spectrum.
The symposium also featured keynote speaker Sandy Longhorn, who is a poet and serves as an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Longhorn’s poetry books have received recognition, including the Anhinga Prize for Poetry in 2005, the Jacar Press Full Length Book contest in 2013, and the Louise Bogan Award in 2014. In the fall of 2016, she received the Porter Fund Literary Prize.
Dr. Mary Leigh, chair of the Arts and Humanities Department, spoke briefly before the awards ceremony. She spoke about the capstone process the students experienced.
“Today is the day to honor the hard work of all our students — every student who participated this year in our capstone symposium,” Leigh said. “These students spent an entire year working up to past Friday, May 6. They studied the great artists and writers who came before them. They’ve experimented with new techniques and ideas. For many months now, they’ve been crafting a project that expresses their intellectual and artistic growth over all that time.
“I remember vividly the look of genuine concern on many of the faces I saw when we first started talking about capstone possibilities when you all came to our different presentations. But look at you now. You’re done. You’ve all completed a project, and that within itself is something to be proud of.”
Symposium awards are recognized in two major categories: Arts and Literature and Visual and Performing Arts. Each major category includes individual topic categories. Overall winners for each major category are selected from the winners of the individual categories.
Students who won individual categories included:
Arts and Literature
Nonfiction: 1. Haley Tripp, a junior from Nashville
Dramatic Narrative: 1. Kacie Koen, a junior from Benton
Poetry/Fiction: 1. Brenda Lieutard, a junior from Springdale 2. Madison Ballard, a junior from Pocahontas
Humanities: 1. Pallas Bennett, a junior from Dover 2. Ai’Yanna Tombs, a junior from North Little Rock 3. Madison Dengel, a junior from Cabot
Overall Winner: Kacie Koen, a junior from Benton, for her work “Withered Away”
Visual and Performing Arts
Fine Arts — Juniors: 1. Natalie McCollum, a junior from Bismarck 2. Evyn Phillips, a junior from Benton 3. Makayla Hampton, a junior from Brinkley
Fine Arts — Seniors: 1. Lane Marquez, a senior from Waldron 2. Danielle Luyet, a senior from Conway 3. Ella Suffren, a senior from Fayetteville
Fine Arts — Best in Show: Danielle Luyet, a senior from Conway, for “Summer Wear”
Music: 1. Layla Lammers, a junior from Blytheville 2. Zephyr Smith, a junior from Hot Springs 3. Beatrice Nkunga, a junior from Sherwood Honorable Mention: Kenlee Motley, a junior from Hot Springs
Overall Winner: Layla Lammers, a junior from Blytheville, for her project “The Evolution of Emo: How the Genre has Developed From 1985.”