Arkansas' Oldest Art Organization • Established in 1947

Fine Arts Center Board of Directors’ Bios
	Cynthia Schanink - President Cynthia became inspired to paint when in high school and has studied art at Arkansas Tech University. Painting in transparent watercolors for 30 years, Cynthia perfected her artistic skills attending workshops and under the tutelage of her mentor the late Stanley Rames. Cynthia has won many awards around in and around Arkansas and has had exhibits in The Walton, Fort Smith and Arkansas River Arts Centers. Currently she has paintings exhibited at The Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs and Xu, Long Hua International Art Gallery in Hot Springs.
	Howard Wright - Treasurer Howard has over 30 years' experience in oil, acrylic and watercolor media on paper, board and canvas. He studied privately and supplemented his studies with classes and seminars in Texas and Delaware. He received extensive training by his father, a recognized artist in Southern Illinois, who was known for his watercolor landscape applications on paper. Howard is currently working with Thad Flenniken, an established Arkansas artist, who is an instructor at Garland County Community College. Howard is currently exhibiting a group of paintings utilizing watercolor media and pencil on paper at the Fine Arts Center and Garland County Community College in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
	Patricia Collins My early life was spent on a farm in New Boston, Michigan surrounded by animals and crops. I had a lot of daydreaming time out in the fields. One of my favorite activities was watching the thoroughbred race horses next door galloping back and forth in their pasture, or laying on my back watching the clouds practice shape shifting, while the wind blew the wild flowers around, releasing their seed pods like parachuting explorers. My grandmother was a painter and a seamstress. My mother and father were both creative hobbyists as well as musicians. I was encouraged to express myself in whichever way my curious young mind had swayed that week. I tried several instruments and even though they provided plenty of challenge, they didn’t give the satisfaction that I felt when I created something out of nothing. I did sewing with my mom and birdhouse building with my dad. I had the best-dressed dolls and the nicest bird abodes, which of course, became dollhouses periodically. In the sixties my family and I moved to Jacksonville, Florida. There I went to several craft shows with my mother and saw how people painted on objects and turned them into works of art. I had to do this too. I collected rocks and bottles and pieces of driftwood, painted them up and gave them all away to relatives. Then I discovered that I could dig up clay from the shoreline of the intercoastal waterway that was in my backyard. I made thousands of pinch pots, which I baked on the tin roof of the dock house using the hot Florida sun to provide the heat. These pots of course had to be painted. Jumping way ahead in life, I had children, was married, raised the kids, went to college and obtained a BSE in art. Now I am a grandmother of three and I have painted many pictures and portraits, worked all kinds of jobs that have given me a background in many forms of creative arts. I discovered glass fusing years ago at the art center in Little Rock. I re-discovered it recently and have fallen deeply in love with the process and the product. The latest technologies have given the glass artist a new and exciting product to work with, called "Dichroic,(di= two, chroic= color) glass." I love the colors and the depth of field I can achieve with these new products. The design ability is endless. My beaded designs have evolved over many years, starting with rolled paper beads and bread dough clay beads, moving on to found and natural objects, evolving to where I am today. Now I use broken antique jewelry pieces and beads, new beads and components, and my glass art pieces to create "one of a kind," art jewelry. I enjoy creating the bead designs as much as I enjoy making the glass pieces. I also greatly enjoy teaching others how to make their own glass art jewelry. This enables me to let someone else feel the pride in themselves as they proudly proclaim, "I made it myself" as a stranger admires their work.
	Sheliah Halderman "Creating pictures has been a constant joy to me for as long as I can remember." Sheliah Halderman started her education in Kansas and finished in Indiana, receiving her Master's degree in education from Indiana University. Sheliah taught fourth grade for twenty-two years in Indiana. She retired from teaching and moved to the beautiful state of Arkansas. Being retired has given her much more time to pursue her first love, art. She started her art career primarily in oils but has expanded into watercolors, pastel, and Prismacolor. She prefers to create from her own photos.
	Joanne Kunath Joanne comes to us from California where she worked in the medical field for many years requiring her to travel about the state. During her travels she observed nature and saw God's handiwork, which touched her creative soul. Joanne has been capturing nature's beauty on canvas ever since. She and her husband moved to Hot Springs two years ago. Joanne prefers, and says, about pastel painting "I can obtain the brilliant colors and effects I am looking for and want others to see and experience."
	Angela Stickels During my life I have tried many different forms of artistic expression without much success. While I was the nurse manager on a psychiatric unit, the Recreation Director brought air-dry clay to the unit for the patients. Always one to try something new, I joined in and a passion was born. My pieces were somewhat identifiable, but with the tactile experience and the whimsical outcomes, I was hooked. Perseverance pays off and now I have my own kiln. I have graduated from acrylic paints to glazes and my pieces are becoming bigger and much more intricate. I have truly found what I have been looking for and I have fun doing it. Last year, I am proud to say, I won the Featured Artists Contest sponsored by the Fine Arts Center. This year I won a nomination to the Diamond Exhibit, a nationally sponsored contest. I have also been asked to become a member on the Board of Directors. Life is good.
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