A.R.T. is the idea of the talented fine artist Shaquanna Nolden, one of the Mississippi Delta’s local high school students, who attends Simmons in Hollandale, Mississippi. Shaquanna’s love and concern for her peers spawned this idea to help curb some of the violence, inactivity and behavioral issues our public schools and communities face.

With the help of Mrs. Earnestine Johnson-Turnipseed, Executive Director and their Board of Directors of the non-profit organization, The Floyd and Bessie Johnson Foundation, A.R.T. became a reality. The Mississippi Delta is known as the birthplace of the Blues, for its rich cultural heritage and some of the best writers in America, which all, in some way, are connected to art. So why not make sure we help our young visual and digital artists continue to add to that list?