Friday, October 12th 5-8 p.m.

Join us for an opening reception on Friday, October 12 from 5-8 p.m. to celebrate the Degas Pastel Society's 17th Biennial National Exhibition. Enjoy the curated collection of 80 works judged by Mike Beeman and toast to the evening's winners during the awards ceremony honoring this year's top national artists.

Since its inception in 1984, the Degas Pastel Society strives to show artistic excellence utilizing the pastel medium. The Society is aptly named in honor of Edgar Degas, (1834-1917), the artist most widely recognized for transforming pastel from a sketching tool into a major artistic medium. Pastel painting blossomed with his touch and his works have inspired countless artists. 

"Degas is our champion: his paintings remind us of the beauty, diversity, permanency and exquisite texture for which pastel is known and for which we, as artists, continue to strive."

Mike Beeman will also conduct a 3-day Still Life Pastel Workshop from October 10-12 here at the HRAC. For more details, visit degaspastelsociety.org or call Darlene Johnson at (504)-392-0215.

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Kate Moore Appearance, Saturday, Nov. 3

The Hammond Regional Arts Center is joining forces again with the Tangipahoa Parish Public Library’s for A Common Read: One Parish - One Book. Book lovers across Tangipahoa Parish are invited to participate as our parish comes together to read and discuss Kate Moore's nationally acclaimed book, "The Radium Girls." Check out a copy of "The Radium Girls" at any Tangipahoa Parish Public Library branch location, and make plans to visit one of our special events to hear Kate Moore in person.

"The Radium Girls tells the horrifying true story of the young women who worked in radium dial factories in the 1920s and ’30s. Using radium dusted paint to create glow-in-the-dark numbers on watch faces, the “shining girls” became luminous themselves, their clothing and hair dusted with a deadly mist of the toxic poison. As the fatal poison of the radium took hold, they found themselves embroiled in one of America’s biggest scandals and a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights.

The book is available to check out from all Tangipahoa Parish Libraries. It will also be available to check out in tote sets for book clubs, senior centers, and classrooms, and there will be copies available to borrow at the Hammond Regional Arts Center.