Local Student Anna Bishop’s Handcrafted Ornament on Display in Washington, D.C.

Anna Bishop’s handcrafted Christmas ornament will be one of those by local Arkansas students which will dazzle President’s Park (White House) in Washington, D.C. as part of the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting display. Jorge Villegas and Maria Botti Villegas directed the creation of ornaments that showcase the rich natural and economic resources of the state of Arkansas. Anna is one of the young artists in Ms. Villegas’ Visual Arts 7-12 class at SAAC. She is the daughter of Tim and Mandy Bishop.

The handcrafted ornaments will adorn one of 56 trees representing each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia from December 1, 2017 through January 1, 2018 as part of the America Celebrates display.

Jorge Villegas, Artist-In-Education, said, “It is an honor to decorate my home state tree and help the nation celebrate the holidays in one of our most recognizable national parks.” He added, “I am excited to be part of the America Celebrates display because this is a ninety-five-year-old tradition of inclusiveness at the time of Christmas celebration.”

Students from different cultural and economic backgrounds as well as cognitive abilities, at Washington Middle School in Mrs. Katie Harwell’s studio art class, and at South Arkansas Arts Center grades 5-12, designed and created ornaments using colored pencil, paper, markers and glitter, crafting their designs on circular mat-boards to represent the wonderful natural resources and economic activities in Arkansas. The ornaments were completed under the direction of Jorge and Maria Villegas, multidisciplinary artists, who have taught for more than 30 years in school systems and centers for disabilities, thanks to grants from the Arkansas Arts Council.

Presented by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, the National Christmas Tree Lighting is one of America’s oldest holiday traditions. The first lighting took place 95 years ago on Christmas Eve in 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit a Christmas tree in front of 3,000 spectators on the Ellipse. Since 1923, each succeeding president has carried on the tradition.

For more event information and updates, please visit www.thenationaltree.org and follow the National Christmas Tree on Twitter at @TheNationalTree. Join the conversation online using the hashtag #NCTL2017.