EDMOND —
Tickets now on sale for the 31st Annual Firehouse Art Center Chocolate Festival slated for Feb. 2
NORMAN — Join visual art supporters and chocolate lovers in celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Chocolate Festival from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 2 at the National Center for Employee Development Conference Center, 2801 State Highway 9, East. During the event, vendors will offer thousands of samples of delectable chocolate-inspired delights for those who wish to purchase tickets, the proceeds of which will support Firehouse Art Center art education programs.
While the Chocolate Festival is the FAC’s only annual fundraiser, it is the hope of the organization that the event will not only raise funds, but also awareness of the visual arts and arts education in the Norman community through the inclusion of the free art activities that take place during the event.
Tickets for chocolate sampling may be purchased online at the Firehouse website, normanfirehouse.com. Premiere tickets for 10:30-11:30 a.m. offer 15 samples for $40, while Standard tickets offer 10 samples for $25 during later, half-hour sessions. After Jan. 23, tickets will only be available in person or by phone at the Firehouse Art Center, or at the door the day of the event.
Art activities will also be available. There will be foil sculpting for families or adults and children to try and ”Creative Cube” painting for children to design their own unique vision. The art activities are free of charge and Chocolate Festival tickets are not required to participate. Parents are encouraged to submit photos of their child’s cube to the Firehouse Art Center’s Facebook page. The most “Liked” cubes will win one of three scholarships in each age group. Firehouse faculty and University of Oklahoma fine art students will assist children with their work. Instructors will be on hand to demonstrate and discuss the children’s and adult art education programs offered at the Firehouse Art Center and at local area schools.
The Firehouse Art Center’s Chocolate Festival was voted “Best Food Festival” in the 2011 and 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards from The Norman Transcript; received “the Best of the Best 2011” as Best Charity Event from Oklahoma Magazine; and won the 2009 Frontier Country Grand Award for Outstanding Food Festival in Central Oklahoma. It has been ranked third among food festivals in the U.S. by TV’s Food Network and has been featured in Southern Living and Bon Appetite magazines.
The Chocolate Festival is the Firehouse Art Center’s only annual fundraiser and membership drive. All proceeds support arts education, exhibits and programs offered to the community by the Firehouse Art Center. Find additional information on the website, normanfirehouse.com.
The Norman Firehouse Art Center, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that serves Norman and surrounding communities by offering visual art classes for students of all ages, as well as gallery exhibitions of the highest quality and original artwork for purchase in the gift shop.
OKC Christian Fiction Writers to present Goodnight and Barton
OKC Christian Fiction Writers will present authors Linda Goodnight and Janet Lee Barton from 1-3 p.m. Jan. 19. They will be speaking about “Writing the Novella.”
With the rise of e-publishing, novellas have gained a new respect and a wider audience. Join multi-published authors Goodnight and Barton to learn the art of writing a publishable novella. Using published works as examples, this talk will explore the elements essential to the novella, how to write them, and how to give a little book a big book feel.
Winner of the RITA Award for excellence in inspirational fiction, Goodnight has also won the Booksellers’ Best, ACFW Book of the Year, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times Magazine. She has appeared on the Christian bestseller list and her romance novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Active in orphan ministry, this former nurse and teacher enjoys writing fiction that carries a message of hope and light in a sometimes dark world. Her latest book, “Rancher’s Refuge,” released in December from Love Inspired. She and husband Gene live in Oklahoma with their daughters, Masha and Victoria.
Barton was raised in a large and loving family in Roswell, N.M., where she learned to love the Lord and was first given the desire to write. She has written multiple historical and contemporary romance novels and novellas in her career. Her latest novel is “Somewhere to Call Home” — the first book in a series for LIH that takes place in late 1890s New York City. After living all over the south, she and her husband now live in his home state of Oklahoma.
OCFW meets the third Saturday of the month at 1 at Mardel Christian Store, 3300 S. Boulevard in Edmond. For more information about the group, visit the blog at http://okcchristianfiction
writers.com or email Erin Young at etyoung@me.com.
Arts & Entertainment
12-29 Arts & entertainment news in brief
- Arts & Entertainment
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Don’t miss out on Williams, Ariz.
You know how some days you’re really at your best and then you hit one where your efforts just don’t measure up. I had one of those. Jack and I were on a nine-day driving tour of Arizona, getting close to the end of the trip.
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Best of Books observes 94th annual Children’s Book Week
Internationally renowned Choctaw storyteller and author Tim Tingle will perform and sign copies of his new children’s novel, “How I Became A Ghost,” a story about the Choctaw Trail of Tears told by a young boy, Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon at Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, Kickingbird Square.
Children will take home free Children’s Book Week posters and totes. This year’s poster artist is Brian Selznick, the 2008 Caldecott Medal winner for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. And children also will get one of the first peeks in the country at Tingle’s new book for children. -
ACM@UCO signs exchange program agreement with ACM
The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO) recently signed an exchange program agreement with the original ACM in Guildford, England. The agreement will allow Central ACM students with global opportunities to study with contemporary music experts at the ACM in Guildford.
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5-14 Good Reads
NOTE: Email dpeery@edmondsun.com to have your name entered into a drawing for the following titles: “The FitzOsbornes at War” and/or “Pretty Penny Makes Ends Meet” and/or “Spirit’s Chosen.” Deadline is 10 a.m. May 20. Winner will be notified by return email. Winner is responsible for picking up the book at The Edmond Sun at 123 S. Broadway. All entrants must be 18 or older to win.
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Locals join Dallas film shoot
University of Central Oklahoma graduate Page Tudyk recently landed the lead supporting actress role in the film “I,” due to start filming this summer in Edmond and the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
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Mumford & Sons event needs volunteer force
The Pollard Theatre Company is sponsoring the volunteer pool for the Mumford & Sons Guthrie Stopover. Organizers are seeking 250 volunteers to work three, five-hour shifts between Thursday-Sunday the weekend of the festival Sept. 5-8.
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Artist INC program to present workshop
The Artist INC program has identified the common behaviors of successful artist entrepreneurs. In their ”What Works/What Doesn’t?” workshop they’ll share those behaviors and leave artists ready to apply them to their own art practice. The workshop includes discussion of portfolio, careers, goal setting and planning, communications strategy and financial planning.
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5-7 Good Reads
NOTE: Email dpeery@edmondsun.com to have your name entered into a drawing for “Behind the Bookcase.” Deadline is 10 a.m. May 13. Winner will be notified by return email. Winner is responsible for picking up the book at The Edmond Sun at 123 S. Broadway. All entrants must be 18 or older to win.
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Oklahoma Choral Artists presents ‘Trial by Jury’
At 7 p.m. May 15 in the Christian Life Center at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, the Oklahoma Choral Artists will present a program of operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan featuring a staged performance with professional instrumental ensemble of “Trial by Jury.” The performance is co-sponsored by Oklahoma Choral Artists and the Emerson Community Action Board, a group of concerned citizens providing support for the Oklahoma City Public School’s Emerson Mid-High Alternative School, a school for young persons who are working to keep their lives together and earn a high school diploma. All proceeds from the evening will go to the support of projects at Emerson.
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Fine Arts Institute schedules 5 X 5 Art Show and Sale
The Fine Arts Institute will present its first “5 X 5 Art Show and Sale” on Sunday. This exhibit includes 55 artists from Oklahoma. The show and sale begins at 5:55 p.m. May 5 with a $5 admission at the door of the Fine Arts Institute, 27 E. Edwards. All art work is priced at $55 and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The exhibit will hang in the FAI gallery May 5-15. Some of the artists included are Jennifer Hustis, Thomas Stotts, Bert Seabourn, Kyle Golding, Jackson Compton, Doris Nelson, Clint Stone, Arni Anderson, Michelle Wiser, Gary Lennon, Linda Kukuk and many more. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. All purchased art is to be picked up May 15. Proceeds from 5 X 5 will go toward operational costs at the Fine Arts Institute to help keep tuition and fees affordable for students of all ages. - More Arts & Entertainment Headlines
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