New Executive Director Takes the Reins at the Arkansas Craft School
The Arkansas Craft School Board is pleased to announce that Rachel Reynolds has been selected as the new Executive Director. Gin Brown, Board President, said, “Reynolds brings a world of experience to the ACS. She is an artist and folklorist with a background in art and cultural policy and arts-focused grassroots organizing in underserved communities.” Reynolds received a B.A. in American studies from the University of Arkansas and M.A. degrees in public history and heritage studies from Arkansas State University where she is pursuing her Ph.D. in heritage studies. She has received fellowships from the Southern Foodways Alliance to document Arkansas barbecue and was in the first cohort of Creative Community Fellows through National Arts Strategies. Her arts and food-focused project, The Oregon County Food Producers and Artisans Co-Op has been featured in Mother Earth News, Rural Missouri, and Acres U.S.A. among other print and online publications. In 2015, she founded the #NotMyOzarks campaign to counter anti-racial sentiment in the Ozarks region. Rachel is a founding member of Art of the Rural and a frequent presenter on topics of cultural sustainability and rural art and culture at conferences across the country. Reynolds has been serving as the head Project Steward at Meadowcreek and is Co-Founder of The People’s Library in Fox, a community development initiative of Meadowcreek Inc.
Located on the Square in a historic building in Mountain View, the Arkansas Craft School (ACS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting a vibrant, creative community that inspires a life affirming appreciation of, and support for, the arts. In business since 2007, the ACS provides classes for both adults and children in a variety of crafts and contemporary arts.
