Warren Selected To Design Award For Women's Hall of Fame
Hot Springs, Arkansas - National Park College (NPC) art instructor Margaret Lola Warren was selected to design and create this year’s award for the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. Warren was selected to create the inaugural award in 2014 and has been selected each year since.
The award is presented annually to women whose contributions have impacted the state
of Arkansas. The Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame lists past recipients that include
former United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Wal-Mart heir Alice
Walton. According to a press release, this year’s historical honorees include Maya
Angelou and Bernice Young Jones. Contemporary honorees include June Freeman and Ruth
Hawkins.
Warren said she submits new designs each year. "Each year I am not sure if I am going
to get the job again," she said. She noted it was significant for the group to choose
a female artist from Arkansas to design the award instead of outsourcing it. "I am
pretty honored they chose me to make the award each year," Warren said. "It is a really
nice privilege. I am very appreciative of that and them choosing me each year." Pictured
left is the 2016 Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame award.
Warren said others have been helpful in creating the awards. She credits University of Central Arkansas (UCA) professor Bryan Massey with helping connect her professionally in Arkansas. "He has been instrumental in helping me get some art-related jobs," Warren said. She said Light and Time Design Studio and Art Foundry in Royal helped with metalwork for the project.
Warren was born in Mountain View, California, and raised in a small town in central Arkansas. Her childhood home was nestled in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, with scenic views of Greers Ferry Lake. She said, “It was from this inspiration that I often choose organic forms as my expression in art.”
Warren joined NPC in 2010 and currently teaches sculpture and ceramics at NPC. She has a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University and a master’s of fine arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California, where she worked as a professional sculptor and artist. Her past teaching experience includes classes at Henderson State University and Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. Warren has also created sculptural awards for the Arkansas Waterfowler’s Hall of Fame and the Art Ambassador’s Award for the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance. She also serves on the board of the Arkansas Sculptors’ Guild. Images of Warren’s work can be found at www.MargaretWarren.com.
The Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame will host an induction ceremony in the Wally Allen Ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center.
