College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences – ÿ�մ��վ News

Foster wins 2026 J.G. Ragsdale Book Award

Mark Heffington — Mon, 04 May 2026 19:51:42 +0000

‘So Great Was the Slaughter’ honored by Arkansas Historical Association

ÿ�մ��վ Assistant Professor of History Dr. Buckley T. Foster (right) receives the 2026 J.G. Ragsdale Book Award from the Arkansas Historical Association, presented by association president Rachel Patton, for his book “So Great Was the Slaughter: Market Hunting, Sportsmen, and Wildlife Conservation in Arkansas.”

University of Central Arkansas Assistant Professor of History Dr. Buckley T. Foster has received the 2026 J.G. Ragsdale Book Award from the Arkansas Historical Association for his book, “So Great Was the Slaughter: Market Hunting, Sportsmen, and Wildlife Conservation in Arkansas.”

The annual award recognizes the best nonfiction, book-length study on any aspect of Arkansas history. Named for founding member John Gails Ragsdale, the honor highlights excellence in historical scholarship and contributions to understanding the state’s past. The award was presented during the association’s annual conference in Monticello, Arkansas.

“I’m honored that the Arkansas Historical Association recognized this work and the history it represents,” Foster said. “From starting the research to the book reaching my hands, this was a 10-year project.

“This award makes me feel it was a worthwhile endeavor.”

“So Great Was the Slaughter” tells an important and compelling story about the origins of Arkansas wildlife conservation. It reveals the untold story of Arkansas conservation pioneers who attempted to save the state’s game and fish populations. As Arkansas entered the 20th century, the national demand for meat – combined with the ability to ship millions of animals to hungry cities like New Orleans, Memphis and Chicago – had driven many species, including bison, prairie chickens and passenger pigeons, to extinction in Arkansas. Many others, including deer, bears, turkeys, quail and many fish species, were in danger of disappearing. Through extensive research, Foster traces how an unlikely coalition of sportsmen, conservationists and policymakers helped establish early conservation laws, fish hatcheries and wildlife refuges that laid the foundations for sustainable management practices.

Foster also presented some of his research at the AHA annual conference in a session titled “Killing for a Living: Market Hunters on Big Lake.”

In addition to the Ragsdale Award, “So Great Was the Slaughter” was selected as an Arkansas Gem for 2025 by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. Selection is based on the work’s literary or artistic merit, originality, and potential for local and regional interest. Titles with registered copyrights published within the current calendar year or the previous calendar year are considered. Arkansas Gems posters and bookmarks are introduced each year at the National Book Festival, highlighting recent regional literature to a national audience.

Foster is an accomplished historian and professor with over 25 years of experience teaching American, Southern, Military and Arkansas history at both two-year and four-year institutions across the South and Midwest. He holds a Ph.D. in 19th-century Southern History from Mississippi State University, with subfields in environmental history and the application of science and technology to the study of history. He earned both his B.A. and M.A. in History from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. His research explores Civil War military campaigns, rural life in Arkansas, and the history of hunting and conservation. Foster’s growing body of scholarship includes “Sherman’s Mississippi Campaign” (2006) and an edited Civil War diary of one of Stonewall Jackson’s colonels, “Fighting with Stonewall in the Valley,” scheduled for release in October 2026.

About the J.G. Ragsdale Book Award

John Gails Ragsdale, a 1919 graduate of the University of Arkansas, was a founding member of the Arkansas Historical Association and served on the University’s Board of Trustees for 14 years. In his honor, the association has since 2002 presented the annual J.G. Ragsdale Book Award in Arkansas History for the best book-length study of any aspect of Arkansas history. Eligible works include nonfiction book-length historical studies written in English and published within the last two years.

Herron Horton Architects to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artists in Residence

Mark Heffington — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:10:53 +0000

Events planned April 10-17

Herron Horton Architects principals Jeff Horton, AIA, LEED AP, and Jennifer Herron, AIA.

The University of Central Arkansas will host Herron Horton Architects, a Little Rock-based architecture and interior design firm, for a multiday residency April 10 and April 13-17, with events that showcase the intersection of art, architecture and human-centered design.

The residency will feature a public exhibition, panel discussion and keynote-style conversation highlighting Herron Horton Architects’ approach to design, craft, and the relationship between people and place. The exhibition “Art + Architecture: Sculpture + Scale” will be on view daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Carmen Thompson Gallery at the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

Additional public events include a panel discussion and a Keystone Conversation exploring the firm’s design process and residency experience. All events are located on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge, with no tickets required for entry.

The full schedule for the Herron Horton Architects residency is as follows:

Friday, April 10, and Monday-Friday, April 13-17, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. – Public Event: “Art + Architecture: Sculpture + Scale” exhibition, Carmen Thompson Gallery, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 2150 Bruce Street, Conway.
Tuesday, April 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. – Public Event: Panel Discussion with Herron Horton Architects, Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
Wednesday, April 16, 1:40-2:30 p.m. – Public Event: Keystone Conversation, “Learning by Design: Inside the Herron Horton Residency Experience,” Keystone Steps, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

Herron Horton Architects is led by principals Jennifer Herron, AIA, and Jeff Horton, AIA, LEED AP, whose complementary passions for people, place, craft and creativity shape the firm’s human-centered work. Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, they approach architecture as a practice that is rooted in both artistic expression and functional design.

Jennifer Herron, a Little Rock native, earned her architecture degree from the University of Kansas, where she also studied fine art photography. Her experience in the San Francisco Bay Area and Little Rock led her to co-found Herron Horton Architects from a belief that architecture begins with people. Her background in photography informs her sensitivity to light, environment and the emotional qualities of space.

Jeff Horton, originally from the Kansas City area, earned his architecture degree from the University of Kansas and continued his studies at the University of Dortmund in Germany. His curiosity about how buildings are made informs his detail-driven approach to design and his commitment to evolving materials and technologies. In addition to his architectural work, Horton is also a painter through which he explores space and color.

Additional information about the residency is available by contacting Toni Gocke Wyre at awyre@uca.edu.

ÿ�մ��վ Theatre Department to present ‘Little Women: The Broadway Musical’

Mark Heffington — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:49:29 +0000

Performances set for April 10-19

Leah Fimple playing Jo March.

The University of Central Arkansas Theatre Department has announced its upcoming production of a heartfelt and timeless story of family, ambition and resilience. Based on the beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott, this musical adaptation brings the March sisters to life through soaring music and deeply human storytelling.

Performances are scheduled for April 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 7 each night and April 12 and 19 at 2 p.m. at the James M. Bridges Black Box Theatre in the Windgate Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, 2150 Bruce St., Conway.

Audiences will follow Jo March and her sisters Meg, Beth, and Amy as they navigate the challenges of growing up during the Civil War era, each striving to define their own paths while bound together by love and loyalty. With a sweeping score and poignant narrative, “Little Women: The Broadway Musical” celebrates the enduring power of dreams, creativity and sisterhood.

Directed by Assistant Professor Lauren Carlton, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and book by Allan Knee, the production showcases the talent and dedication of ÿ�մ��վ’s student performers, designers and technicians. This moving theatrical experience highlights both the strength of classic literature and the vibrancy of contemporary musical theatre.

ÿ�մ��վ students, faculty and staff can receive free tickets at the door or at the Reynolds Performance Hall or Windgate box offices. General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Reynolds Box Office or Windgate Box Office Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by calling ÿ�մ��վ Ticket Central at (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012.

Investigative journalist Jerry W. Mitchell to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artist in Residence

Mark Heffington — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 19:33:20 +0000

Events planned March 31-April 1

Investigative journalist Jerry W. Mitchell

The University of Central Arkansas will host investigative journalist Jerry W. Mitchell for a two-day residency Tuesday, March 31, and Wednesday, April 1, with events that highlight investigative reporting, journalism ethics, and the pursuit of truth and accountability.

Mitchell’s residency will feature a series of student-focused conversations with journalism classes as well as the public presentation “Truth on Trial: An Evening With Journalist Jerry Mitchell.” Most events will take place on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge, with no tickets required for entry.

The full schedule for Mitchell’s residency is as follows:

Tuesday, March 31

10:50 a.m.-12:05 p.m., Student Event: Q&A with Beginning Reporting class, Stanley Russ Hall 102.
12:15-1:30 p.m., Student Event: Q&A with Media Law and Ethics class, Stanley Russ Hall 109.
Time and venue TBD, dinner with journalism faculty and students from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Wednesday, April 1

11-11:50 a.m., Student Event: Q&A with International Reporting students, Stanley Russ Hall 102.
Noon-12:50 p.m., Student Event: Q&A with News Editing students, Stanley Russ Hall 102.
3-3:50 p.m., Student Event: Q&A with Student Media Outlets (newspaper, yearbook, television station), Stanley Russ Hall 103.
7-8 p.m., Public Event: “Truth on Trial: An Evening With Journalist Jerry Mitchell,” Stanley Russ Hall 103.

Jerry W. Mitchell is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and author of “Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era.” During his distinguished career at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitchell’s relentless and meticulous reporting helped lead to the long-overdue convictions of notorious Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious racially motivated crimes in American history, including the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and the Mississippi Burning murders.

Mitchell is also the founder of the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and training a new generation of investigative journalists. Guided by a deep commitment to justice, his work combines rigorous reporting with powerful storytelling to uncover truths long buried by silence and indifference.

More information about the residency is available by contacting Dr. Donna Stephens at donnals@uca.edu.

Actor, advocate Ben Grimes to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artist in Residence

Mark Heffington — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:26:17 +0000

The University of Central Arkansas will host actor and advocate Ben Grimes for a three-day residency March 10-12, featuring events that showcase theatre performance, storytelling, the role of the arts in community and veteran advocacy.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ben to campus,” Dr. Paige Reynolds of the School of Language and Literature said. “With authenticity, vulnerability and sensitivity, Ben’s work – both on and off stage – confronts how the complexities of war cause individual trauma and contribute to mental health challenges.

“His solo show, ‘Death of Kings,’ creatively weaves together insights from Shakespeare, neuroscience and drama therapy, resulting in a uniquely powerful performance piece. Originally from Arkansas, with interdisciplinary investments and a commitment to advocacy, Ben is an inspiring artist we are deeply excited for our students to engage.”

Grimes’ residency will feature two public performances of “Death of Kings,” a post-performance talkback, and a series of student-focused class visits and workshops. Additional events throughout the residency will include classroom visits and a workshop with the ÿ�մ��վ Veterans and Military Resource Center. Most events are located on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge, with no tickets required for entry.

Grimes, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, received a BFA in Regional Theatre from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and has appeared in stage productions in regional theaters across the country. He was a founding member of Moment to Moment Productions in Little Rock and served as co-artistic director of Drove Theater Company in New York City. He currently serves as the managing artistic director at Market House Theatre in Paducah, Kentucky.

After more than a decade working professionally on stage, Grimes joined the U.S. Army in 2006. As an Airborne Ranger in the 82nd Airborne Division, he deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, and later deployed again in 2017 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Following his military service, Grimes returned to theatre and enrolled in the Clinton School of Public Service, earning a Master’s in Public Service. His research and studies inspired him to launch Riverside Actors Theatre, a company that uses theatre and storytelling to address trauma and the struggles that veterans and other at-risk populations commonly face.

The full schedule for Grimes’ residency is as follows:

Tuesday, March 10

7-8 p.m. – Public Event: “Death of Kings,” Performance #1, Lecture Hall 143, McCastlain Hall.
8:30-9:30 p.m. – Public Event: “Death of Kings,” Performance #2, Lecture Hall 143, McCastlain Hall.
9:30-10 p.m. – Public Event: “Death of Kings” Post-Performance Talkback with Ben Grimes, Lecture Hall 143, McCastlain Hall.

Wednesday, March 11

10-10:50 a.m. – Student Event: Visit with “Theatre for Community Change” class, Jefferson Farris Hall 114.
Noon-12:50 p.m. – Student Event: Visit with “Theatre History II” class, Snow Fine Arts 215.
2 p.m. – Student Event: The Breach Mini-Workshop with Ben Grimes, ÿ�մ��վ Veterans and Military Resource Center (closed event limited to veterans).

Thursday, March 12

9:25 a.m. – Student Event: Visit with “Intro to Drama: Making Meaning on Stage” class, Irby Hall 313.
10:50 a.m. – Student Event: Visit with “Intro to Drama: Making Meaning on Stage” class, Irby Hall 313.
12:15 p.m. – Student Event: Visit with “Shakespeare in Action” class, Irby Hall 313.

Content Advisory – “Death of Kings”

This production contains mature themes, including depictions of violence, war, trauma and emotional distress. It includes references to death, loss, moral conflict and suicide, as well as moments of intense language and imagery. Viewer discretion is advised. Recommended for mature audiences.

Anyone in crisis and experiencing thoughts of suicide should call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.

Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

More information about the residency is available by contacting Dr. Paige Reynolds at preynolds@uca.edu.

The ÿ�մ��վ Artists in Residence program is funded by the Fine and Performing Arts Fee paid by all students, with additional support from Engage Management and Pyramid Art, Books, and Custom Framing. More information about the Artists in Residence program is available at or by contacting Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at gayles@uca.edu.

Bestselling author Melissa Febos to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artist in Residence

Mark Heffington — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:22:05 +0000

The University of Central Arkansas will host nationally bestselling author Melissa Febos for a two-day residency Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 17-18, with events that highlight creative writing, personal narrative and literary craft.

Febos’ residency will feature a public reading and book signing, as well as a student-focused craft talk. Events will be held on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge, with no tickets required for entry.

The full schedule for Febos’ residency is as follows:

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. – Public Event: Reading and Book Signing with Melissa Febos and Donika Kelly, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts 167.
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 11-11:50 a.m. – Student Event: Craft Talk with Melissa Febos, Win Thompson Hall 331.

Melissa Febos is the national bestselling author of five books, including “Girlhood,” winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism; “Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative”; and the forthcoming memoir “The Dry Season.” She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, Lambda Literary, the Black Mountain Institute, the British Library and the Bogliasco Foundation, among others.

Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays, Vogue and The New York Times Magazine. Febos is a professor at the University of Iowa.

More information about the residency is available by contacting professors Stephanie Vanderslice at stephv@uca.edu or Acie Clark at kclark27@uca.edu.

Poet Donika Kelly to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artist in Residence

Mark Heffington — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:31:56 +0000

The University of Central Arkansas will host poet and author Donika Kelly as an Artist in Residence Tuesday, Feb. 17, with events that highlight poetry, literary craft and contemporary creative writing.

Kelly’s residency will feature a student-focused master class as well as a public reading and book signing. Events will be held on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge, with no tickets required for entry.

The full schedule for Kelly’s residency on Feb. 17 is as follows:

4 p.m. – Student Event: Master Class with Donika Kelly, Win Thompson Hall 331.
7:30 p.m. – Public Event: Reading and Book Signing with Melissa Febos and Donika Kelly, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts 167.

Kelly is the author of “The Natural Order of Things”; “The Renunciations,” winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry; and “Bestiary,” winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. She is a recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and is a Cave Canem graduate fellow and Pushcart Prize winner.

Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review and elsewhere. Kelly is an associate professor in the English Department at the University of Iowa, where she teaches creative writing.

More information about the residency is available by contacting professors Stephanie Vanderslice at stephv@uca.edu or Acie Clark at kclark27@uca.edu.

ShoutHouse to visit ÿ�մ��վ as Artists in Residence

Mark Heffington — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 21:04:28 +0000

Events planned Feb. 6-10 culminate with Wind Ensemble concert

Photo by Brandon Ilaw

The University of Central Arkansas will welcome ShoutHouse – a genre-defying musical collective blending instrumental music, vocals and hip-hop – for a multi-day artist residency Friday, Feb. 6, through Tuesday, Feb. 10, with events that highlight collaboration, contemporary music-making and live performance.

Based in New York City, ShoutHouse is the brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist Will Healy. The collective of musicians brings together complex grooves, poetic hip-hop, high-octane vocals and instrumental solos in a way that is uniquely their own. Their sound is an “ a lavishly orchestrated, absolutely unique blend of postrock, art-rock and indie classical styles” (New York Music Daily).

“We couldn’t be more excited to feature ShoutHouse in a performance of Healy’s ‘Passages’ with the ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble,” Dr. Dominic Talanca, director of bands and conductor of the ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble, said. “We are fortunate that this residency will feature several activities for our students and the public.”

ShoutHouse’s residency will include open rehearsals with the ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble, conversations focused on entrepreneurship in music, pop-up concerts across campus, and a culminating public concert. Events will be held at the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts and the Snow Fine Arts Center. All events are located on the ÿ�մ��վ campus and are open to the public and free of charge unless otherwise noted.

“When [I] was approached about writing a ShoutHouse-style piece for wind ensemble, I immediately thought about language as a unifying theme for the work,” Healy said. “I pictured emcees, a singer, jazz soloists and dozens of instrumentalists attempting to communicate a single narrative through music and words.

“That tension and opposition among styles would become a basis for playful structural shifts and dynamic musical conversations.”

The full schedule for ShoutHouse’s residency is as follows:

Friday, Feb. 6 , noon-2 p.m. – Student Event: ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble Open Rehearsal with ShoutHouse, Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
Sunday, Feb. 8, 3-4:30 p.m. – Student Event: “Entrepreneurship in Music: A Conversation With ShoutHouse,” Recital Hall, Snow Fine Arts Center.
Monday, Feb. 9, noon-2 p.m. – Public Event: ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble Open Rehearsal with ShoutHouse, Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
Monday, Feb. 9, 3-4 p.m. – Student Event: Pop-up Concerts Around Campus, various campus venues.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7:30-9 p.m. – Public Event: ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble Concert Featuring ShoutHouse, Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts. General public tickets are available at uca.edu/publicappearances/tickets. ÿ�մ��վ students can receive up to two free tickets by visiting the box office at Reynolds Performance Hall or the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

More information about ShoutHouse is available at . More information about the residency is available by contacting Dr. Dominic Talanca at dtalanca@uca.edu.

ÿ�մ��վ to host America at 250 Week Feb. 9-12

Mark Heffington — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:54:02 +0000

Special events to include exhibits, performances, Artists in Residence

The University of Central Arkansas College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences will celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial with America at 250 Week Feb. 9-12. The week will feature exhibits, performances, events and Artists in Residence.

Two ongoing exhibits in ÿ�մ��վ’s Baum Gallery will anchor the week: “America 250 Selfie Throne,” by Artist in Residence Kat Wilson, and “Ancestral Spirits: Stitching the Past to the Present,” by Artist in Residence Alice Aida Ayers. Support for these exhibitions comes from the ÿ�մ��վ Artists in Residence Program and Visit Conway. The Baum Gallery, located in room 145 of McCastlain Hall on the ÿ�մ��վ campus in Conway, is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitor parking is located next door in front of and behind Wingo Hall. Additional information about these exhibitions and events is available by contacting Dr. Rachel Trusty at rtrusty1@uca.edu.

Other public events throughout the week will include:

Monday, Feb. 9

Noon-2 p.m. – Artists in Residence ShoutHouse – Public Event: ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble Open Rehearsal, Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts, 2150 Bruce Street, Conway.
5 p.m. – Public Event: Prelude Performance of Patriotic Music by Pinnacle Brass, Reynolds Performance Hall Lobby.
6 p.m. – Public Film Screening: “Hamilton” with Talkback by Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reynolds Performance Hall, presented in collaboration with ÿ�մ��վ Public Appearances. Tickets are $28.75 for the general public, available at uca.edu/publicappearances/tickets. ÿ�մ��վ students can receive up to two free tickets by visiting the box office at Reynolds Performance Hall or the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

Tuesday, Feb. 10

1:40 p.m. – Public Lectures: Reflections on American Oratory and Dance, “Frederick Douglass on the National Anniversary” by Dr. Lori Leavell; “Magnetic Dancing ‘Revelations’” by Dr. Crystal Harris, Baum Gallery, McCastlain Hall.
7:30 p.m. – Public Concert: “Variations on America at 250,” featuring ÿ�մ��վ Wind Ensemble, Dr. Dominic Talanca, conductor (University of Central Arkansas); Nicholas Enrico Williams, guest conductor (University of Georgia); Blake Arrington, clarinet soloist (U.S. Air Force Band); Will Healy, composer; and Artists in Residence ShoutHouse, guest artists. Concert Hall, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts. General public tickets are available at uca.edu/publicappearances/tickets. ÿ�մ��վ students can receive up to two free tickets by visiting the box office at Reynolds Performance Hall or the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

Wednesday, Feb. 11

3:30 p.m. – Public Lecture: “Mother Ann Lee, the Shakers’ Radical Prophet: Women, Religious Expression, and American Identity,” by Dr. Taine Duncan, Fireplace Room, McCastlain Hall.
6:30 p.m. – Reading and Book Signing: “Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America” by Dr. Vaughn Scribner, Fireplace Room, McCastlain Hall.

Thursday, Feb. 12

1:40-3 p.m. – A 250 Gathering (With Cake), Baum Gallery, McCastlain Hall. This celebration will include a reading of the Declaration of Independence by President Houston Davis and a special semiquincentennial announcement; fife and drum performance by Katie McManus (percussion) and Kami Curtis (flute); performance of 18th-century American music by Dr. Ben Thorburn (harpsichord and vocals), Clara Spivey (flute), Mary Ruth Kitchens (vocals) and the ÿ�մ��վ Collegium Singers; Independence Day Wish for America Tree; and interactive 250 Cabinets, created by first-year art students, inviting attendees to handle, reveal and reflect on the American experiment, Fireplace Room, McCastlain Hall.
6 p.m. – Public Event: Gallery Talk with Artist in Residence Kat Wilson, Baum Gallery, McCastlain Hall. The gallery will have extended hours from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

More information about America at 250 Week is available at uca.edu/cahss/america-at-250-week, or by contacting Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at gayles@uca.edu.

ÿ�մ��վ to host reed quintet band Paradise Winds as Artists in Residence

Mark Heffington — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 14:42:02 +0000

Two-day residency to include public concert, student-focused events

Patrick Murphy (saxophone), Tiffany Pan (oboe), Joseph Kluesener (bassoon), Joshua Gardner (clarinet) , Stefanie Harger Gardner (bass clarinet)

The University of Central Arkansas Department of Music will host the Phoenix, Arizona-based reed quintet Paradise Winds for a two-day residency Jan. 20–21, featuring a public concert and educational events for students.

The residency will include a free public concert Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts Concert Hall, 2150 Bruce Street, Conway. The performance is open to the public, and no tickets are required.

In addition to the public concert, Paradise Winds will lead student-focused events during their campus visit, including a class visit with music and composition students on Jan. 20 and a woodwind master class on Wednesday, Jan. 21, for ÿ�մ��վ music students.

Paradise Winds performs as a reed quintet, a chamber music group made up of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon. The group performs without a conductor, meaning the musicians manage pacing, balance and timing together in real time. This makes the concert feel different from the large orchestral performances with which many audiences are familiar.

Formed in 2005, Paradise Winds has performed throughout the United States and internationally and has been featured on American Public Media’s “Performance Today.” The ensemble is known for its commitment to expanding the reed quintet repertoire and for working closely with composers and students through residencies and educational outreach.

The full schedule for Paradise Winds’ residency is as follows:

Tuesday, Jan. 20

1:40-2:40 p.m. – Student Event: Class Visit with Composition and Music Students.
7:30 p.m. – Public Concert, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts Concert Hall.

Wednesday, Jan. 21

11 a.m.-noon – Student Event: Woodwind Master Class, Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

More information about Paradise Winds is available at . Additional information about the residency is available through the ÿ�մ��վ Department of Music.

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences – ÿ�մ�����վ News

Foster wins 2026 J.G. Ragsdale Book Award

Herron Horton Architects to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artists in Residence

ÿ�մ�����վ Theatre Department to present ‘Little Women: The Broadway Musical’

Investigative journalist Jerry W. Mitchell to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artist in Residence

Actor, advocate Ben Grimes to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artist in Residence

Bestselling author Melissa Febos to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artist in Residence

Poet Donika Kelly to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artist in Residence

ShoutHouse to visit ÿ�մ�����վ as Artists in Residence

ÿ�մ�����վ to host America at 250 Week Feb. 9-12

ÿ�մ�����վ to host reed quintet band Paradise Winds as Artists in Residence