ARTifacts 7/3/08

National arts organization honors Missouri governor

Americans for the Arts awarded Gov. Matt Blunt with the 2008 National Award for Gubernatorial Arts Leadership for his role in advancing the arts and art education in Missouri. He received the award in June at the 76th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami. Since taking office in 2005, Blunt has increased arts funding so much, he helped pull Missouri from ranking 49th to 14th among states and U.S. territories for per capita spending on the arts. He helped raise Missouri's public funding for the arts from $500,000 in 2005 to $11.3 million in 2009. The Missouri Citizens for the Arts nominated Blunt for the award, which is given yearly to elected officials who work to enhance arts in their community.

River City Players looking for three female, two male actors

The River City Players, Cape Girardeau's community theater, is looking for three females and two males to star in their next production "When the Reaper Calls," a comedy thriller. Audition dates are 2 to 4 p.m. July 13 and 6 to 8 p.m. July 14. They will take place at Port Cape in the Captains' Quarters. No preparation necessary; auditions will be a cold reading.

Missouri state fair opens art competition to minors

The Missouri State fair has long held the Missouri 50s Art Competition for artists 18 and older to submit art with 50 pieces being accepted and displayed. This year the fair extended that event to include an offspring competition, the Missouri Junior 50s Art Competition. Entries in the youth competition will be juried down to 50 pieces, which will then be judged by Thomas Pische, director of Sedalia's Daum Museum. Four pieces will receive a $100 cash award with all 50 on display for public viewing for the duration of the fair in Sedalia, Mo., Aug. 7 to 17. The fee to enter up to two pieces of work in the junior division is $5. Entries can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 26 at the Fine Arts Building on the fairgrounds. For more information, consult the Premium Guide via the Web site www.mostatefair.com.

— From staff reports