Three chairs

Artists and board members of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) gathered Nov. 1 at the home of Mary Alice Hurst and Turk Smith on Round Mountain to get a first glimpse of the chairs created for "Three Chairs for CASA."

This is the second year of the fund-raising event that features chairs of style and whimsy, embellished by area artists.

The chairs are now placed in businesses around town, and bidding has begun in earnest.

The reception, with a glorious view of Conway's city lights, was well-attended, and a great opportunity to meet CASA's new executive director, Diana Rivers.

Artists were available to give insight into their creations.

Doug Odom, a Guy artist and rancher, chose an Oglala Sioux theme for his stool. He said he hated the stool when it arrived, and was uninspired for creating something new.

But as he began circling and circling the old stool, the inspiration for a theme hit him. Feathers and a painting on leather adorn the stool. He also designed a stool last year, now in a place of prominence at That Bookstore at Mountebanq Place on Oak Street.

A plus was music provided by Rodney Block on trumpet and Samuel Carroll at the piano, a Conway-based jazz duo making the rounds of special events. Block also has a quartet, also available for gatherings.

Block's CD, featuring his cool trumpet, is a good listen.

(Staff writer Becky Harris can be reached by e-mail at becky.harris@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236.)