Tom Peyton Memorial Arts Festival
Tom Peyton Memorial Arts Festival of First United Methodist Church, Alexandria, Louisiana, was established in 1967 to encourage use and understanding of the arts as a means of healthy expression. The First Annual Festival presented the first juried art competition in Central Louisiana.
For more than 50 years, the Festival has offered a variety of exhibits as well as programs of music, film, literature and drama. The Festival was renamed in 1980 to honor the memory of The Rev. Tom Peyton, a former associate minister whose ministry to the entire community’s arts and educational efforts was especially significant. An endowment in Peyton’s memory contributes to the Festival’s budget, which is otherwise supported by patrons’ gifts and grants. The Festival enjoys the guidance and services of the church’s staff and the use of its facilities. The core of the Festival remains the juried art exhibit.
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Rev. Tom Peyton, former associate minister whose ministry to the entire community’s arts and educational efforts was especially significant.
56th Annual Tom Peyton Memorial Arts Festival, April 12 – 21
Jeff Mickey, Juror
Jeff Mickey is a Professor in the Department of Visual Art & Design at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, where he is the area head for the Sculpture Program. He received his BFA from Arkansas State University and MFA from The University of Memphis.
Jeff was a child during the sixties and early seventies. He grew up with chemistry sets, microscopes and science books that were provided by his parents, who encouraged him to find out more about the world around him.
He states, “As I get older, I find that I am as interested in the myths of things in our culture as I am about the environment and the way it works or the science that can explain it. I want to find connections in myself and the world around me and explore situations or objects that describe these connections.”
Jeff has lived in Japan, California, Delaware, Tennessee, and Arkansas. He is now teaching and working in Hammond, Louisiana.