Nacogdoches Arts Collaborative Update
Make plans to shop with us Saturday, May 4 for “Sale on the Trail”, the giant garage sale that goes from Natchitoches, LA to San Augustine along the Camino Real. The community has been generous with high quality donations of items for us to sell! Both inside and on our parking lot, corner of Mound & Hospital, will be bustling with vendors from 9am-5pm.
Also kicking off on May 4 will be our “Naco Verde” upcycling challenge. There will be a variety of items to choose from and a large amount of embellishments to help turn your item into art or a unique function. Work on it for 2 weeks then come back on May 18 for chances to win prizes. Register on our website.
May 16 & 17 we will host performances of “…but mostly I do not dream (encounters with enby ancestors)” devised by Slade Billew and Ali Maxey. Ten dollar suggested donation at the door, reservations on our website.
Our new lineup of classes kicked off last month with art and theatre sessions aimed at young, old and in between. These classes continue in May with kid’s classes Tuesdays 10am – noon May 7, 21 and 28. Adult classes on Artistic Expressions will be Tuesdays 6-7pm on May 7, 14, 21 and 28. Let us know what sort of classes you would be interested in taking and the best times for you.
Our current exhibition by artist Mailey McAslan continues through May 25 with a closing reception planned for Saturday, May 25 from 3-5pm.
May Artist Spotlight
Meet Roz Couch!
Roz Couch is a triple threat: actor, director and musician.You saw her onstage in 2022 at the Lamp-Lite Theater starring as Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”– she’s an unabashed Shakespeare fan– and in this season’s “Smoke On the Mountain” where Roz played mandolin, ukelele and spoons. “But not all at the same time!” she adds, laughing. Her most recent theatrical project was directing “The Play That Goes Wrong,” another well-received Lamp-Lite production. “My cast was outstanding and we had so much fun putting that comedy together. I would leave rehearsals wheezing from having laughed so hard.”
Roz began her artistic journey as a musician, studying the violin. But when she was in high school, the acting bug bit hard. Roz studied theater at SFA and at an audition there, she met her future husband, Jamie Couch. They ended up being cast as a married couple in the play, and then later tied the knot themselves. Today, Roz calls herself the leading lady of the “Couch Family Players,” which include Jamie, who now teaches English at SFA, and their son Jason, who is working on his masters in creative writing there. “We’re all theater people,” she admits.
“I never need an excuse to put on a costume or dress up! Which is why I love coming to the NAC’s gala balls where costumes are encouraged. In 2023, the theme was come as your favorite work of art and I went as a Picasso cubist painting. Volunteering for the NAC has put me in contact with great people who are also fellow artists, and I think that any chance to increase the presence of the arts in Nacogdoches is a good thing.”