Logan Spector, artist
Submissions are being accepted through Monday, March 19, for RiverLink’s 11th Annual Voices of the River Art and Poetry Contest. Pre-K through 12th-grade students from the counties within the French Broad River Watershed (Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Mitchell, Transylvania and Yancey) are invited to submit stories, poetry or art on the theme, “What do you value about your watershed?” Local artists, community volunteers and RiverLink staff members will judge submissions. Works will be displayed at local businesses and prizes will be awarded in four age groups by submission category.
Contest submissions often display “passion and insight,” says Robert Brown, RiverLink’s education coordinator. “A poem submitted a few years ago by a particularly talented student includes the line, ‘I don’t need to be big to create change.’ As an educator, entries like these inspire me to continue introducing students to local streams and rivers so that they can personally discover the value of these ecosystems and share their experiences.”
Winners will be announced at the Earth Day Kid’s Festival on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Salvage Station. This family event will provide educational activities, arts and crafts, games, music and performances.
“One of the reasons we love putting on our Earth Day Kid’s Festival,” says RiverLink’s volunteer coordinator Emma Kilbourn Rast, “is because we believe instilling a love for and connection to the environment at an early age is important in creating a future generation of people who will continue to care deeply for and take action to protect our Earth. This festival provides a space to introduce children to a world in which fighting for the health of our planet can be done in a way that is full of hope and collaboration.”
To learn more, visit riverlink.org or email Robert Brown, education coordinator, at robert@riverlink.org. RiverLink is located at 170 Lyman Street in Asheville’s River Arts District. Salvage Station is located at 468 Riverside Drive.
