Thea Foundation’s 4th annual Into the Blue, an evening celebrating and supporting the arts in Arkansas, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 28, 2018, at the Center for the Humanities and Arts at the University of Arkansas at Pulaski Tech in North Little Rock. This gala, which began as an elegant dinner with performances and an address by former president Bill Clinton, has evolved into a lively gathering of arts enthusiasts to enjoy performances by Thea Foundation scholarship winners who have graced international stages and returned home to celebrate Thea Foundation and help honor the recipient of the foundation’s annual Pillar of the Arts Award, given to a member of the community who has gone above and beyond to advance the arts in Arkansas. This year’s recipient of the Pillar of the Arts Award is Dorothy Morris.
This year’s lineup of performers features Georgeanne Yehling, an esteemed and awarded opera singer and instructor who calls Wichita, Kansas, home; Selena Gordon, a Fort Smith native who performed at Radio City Music Hall on America’s Got Talent; Meredith Short Loy, renowned for her work with Ballet Arkansas and beyond; and Bennett “Tanner” Berry, a Magnolia native and University of Oklahoma sophomore who was one of 15 students selected to be a part of the Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre’s Class of 2020. Each of these rising stars was awarded a Thea Foundation scholarship their senior year of high school.
Into the Blue is chaired by Clark Trim; Jo and Presley Melton; Michelle Browning; Janet and Dr. Glenn Davis; Trish Roberson; Win and Natalie Rockefeller; Gert Clark and Pillar of the Arts Award recipient Dorothy Morris. Dorothy Morris, president and CEO of the Morris Foundation, resides in Hot Springs and continues the work of her late husband, Walter Morris, a pioneering philanthropist who helped create Heifer Project International. Through the Morris Foundation, Dorothy supports more than 50 nonprofits annually and provides seed money to many organizations. From food banks to the fine arts and medical research, the Morris Foundation has nourished Arkansas’ cultural institutions, both large and small, for decades. An enthusiastic collaborator, Dorothy worked to raise funds for Hot Springs artist Linda Williams Palmer, which resulted in a touring exhibit of the “Champion Trees” project and an AETN Emmy Award-winning documentary film of the same name. Dorothy is on the Board of Visitors for UAMS and advises or supports the
Hot Springs Cultural Alliance, Hot Springs Music Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Point Cedar Food Bank, National Park College, Henderson University, Ouachita University, Arkansas Food Bank, UALR, Arkansas Policy Foundation, Garvan Woodland Gardens, Thea Foundation and ASMSA.
Tickets to Into the Blue are $100. Individual Patron tickets are $250 and include name recognition at the event. Buy tickets online at theafoundation.org-into-the-blue or by phone at 501-379-9512.