Art, music and food abundant at Jazz in June

 

story and photos by Linda Kaufenberg

The 21st edition of Jazz in June, sponsored by The Booneville House Association, was held Friday night (June 4) and featured food, fun, music and art.

More than 50 people attended the event held both inside and on the lawn of the historic house. Angela Anderson was the featured artist and the Tabitha Graves Quartet provided the music.

The Bonneville House has a rich past and distinctive place in the history books of our city, state, and nation. It was built in 1868 and occupied by the David McKibben family for 10 years. It was later sold to Mrs. Sue Neis Bonneville, widow of General Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796-1878), for whom the Bonneville Dam, Bonneville Salt Flats, and our local Bonneville Elementary School were named.

Gen. Bonneville was a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper and explorer in the American West. He is noted for his expeditions to the Oregon Country and the Great Basin and for the exploration of portions of the Oregon Trail. He was made famous during his lifetime by an account of his explorations “The Adventure’s of General Bonneville” written by Washington Irving.

The Booneville House Association uses the money from fundraisers like Jazz in June to help preserve and restore the historical house.

"This year we put a new roof on the house, said Kate Maurras, board vice president. "We have recently finished a new kitchen."

Three to four times a year they offer gourmet dinners. In addition, the association has a garden club that does gardening projects around the house. They recently installed a sprinkler system.

"The flowers that are adorning the tables came out of our garden club members’ yards and this yard," Maurras said. "They have done a tremendous job of improving the grounds around the house."

Angela Anderson is an artist from Russellville. She grew up in Palm Springs, Calif., and moved to Arkansas in 1991 after graduating college with an honors art degree from Arizona Western College in Yuma.   
 
Although grounded in the basics of art through her studies, Anderson developed her own self-taught style of painting with acrylics. She pursued decorative arts for several years before returning to fine arts in 2004 after a trip to France. Most recently, she was selected for inclusion in the 2009 Arkansas Artist Calendar published by the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association.

"I have been painting for 20 years," Anderson said, "and moved to Russellville 19 years ago. I really like to paint nature. The nest has become one of my trademarks and is what was featured in the calendar for the Governor’s Mansion Association."

The Tabitha Graves quartet is made up of Shane Bailey on the drums; John Magness, guitar; Rick Endal, keyboard and Tabitha Graves, singer.

"I searched for the best musicians to make me sound good," Graves said when asked how they all came together to form the group.