The National Association for Rural Mental Health established the Rural Arts Award in 2007 to honor the life-long contributions of Peter G. (Pete) Beeson to both rural mental health and the rural arts. Peter is recognized within the association for his masterful writing about rural life and his beautiful photography both of which have graced the pages of many NARMH publications.
This year’s award winner is the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center. BBTCAC is a non-profit gallery and cultural arts center featuring the works of over 400 artists and craftsmen from across Alabama’s Black Belt region. In addition to the Gallery, the Center offers art classes and workshops for youth and adults, artist demonstrations, in-school arts enrichment through its Black Belt Teaching Artist Program, along with heritage arts lectures and events.
Sulynn Creswell and Kristin Law accepted the award on BBTCAC’s behalf at the 2024 VitAL Conference luncheon on August 26th at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH) is a professional organization that serves the field of rural behavioral health.
Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to foster, develop, and promote economic development initiatives aimed at creating jobs and increasing the income of local residents through the marketing of arts, crafts, literature, food products, and other items unique to Alabama’s Black Belt and to cultivate and provide arts education in the region.
