The University of Central Arkansas will be receiving a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for a suffrage centennial project.
The project, entitled “Shall Not Be Denied,” will be receiving an Art Works grant. “Shall Not Be Denied” is a collaborative art project, developed within the UCA College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, that will consist of multidisciplinary arts events and installations designed to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the 19thAmendment’s passage.
“The passage of the 19th Amendment, which was officially adopted on Aug. 26, 1920, did not give women the right to vote; rather, it established that sex could not be used as a factor to deny someone the right to vote,” Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, said in a statement. “The UCA Suffrage Centennial project, ‘Shall Not Be Denied,’ uses the arts (dance, music, sculpture, video) as entry points into the gripping drama of this history, peppered with tales of extraordinary self-sacrifice. It is also intended to reveal the discriminatory practices within the suffrage movement to shine a light on the continued barriers to voting for people of color and educate the public on voting rights for underrepresented communities.”
Seymour serves as the project director, while local grant writer and arts producer Jennifer Deering serves as a consultant.
As part of the project, there will be a temporary sculptural installation by Sharon Louden, an artist-in-residence, who will be aided by student apprentices. In addition, there will be a suffrage dance performance, spoken word suffrage speeches, a community suffrage sing-along, a ceramic floor mosaic installation, an art exhibit and more.
READ MORE: Arkansas Arts Center Makes Fundraising Hire, Theater Promotion