dafunkysensual’s Neighborhood

The quote from her website, "In many African countries women are still marginalized, excluded from education and formal employment but retain responsibilities for ensuring that the family is clothed and fed," says it all. UK-based Ida Horner has based her life mission upon that. She has taken the combination of philanthropy, charity work and business to the next level by selling African handicrafts to facilitate poverty stricken women to lift themselves out of poverty. Horner assists women in the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Madagascar to have a market for their products, an action that is long overdue.

The University of Central Oklahoma Max Chambers Library will celebrate an evening of recent art exhibits and acquisitions with, "Beyond Books — An Evening at the UCO Library" from 5 to 7 p.m., Aug. 14.The evening will include free food, walking tours of the exhibits, including the African Collection, and African dancers and drummers.The African Collection features a comprehensive representation of art from Sub-Saharan Africa that has been re-housed in museum quality cases on the library's second and third floors.According to UCO Art Professor, Dr. William Hommel, the African Collection is the most comprehensive representation of art from that region in the United States."The collection of rare Sao archeological pieces from the area south of Lake Chad is the largest of its kind in the United States," explained Hommel."Other highlights of the exhibit include a large variety of stone Mintadi figures from the Kingdom of the Kongo as well as several 15th and 16th century stone pieces from Sierra Leone."Also on exhibit is the George Calvert Collection donated to the UCO Library in 2006 by the Melton Art Reference Library and Jack and Patricia Welch. The collection consists of more than 100 drawings, paintings, etchings and other printmaking formats created by Calvert, an Oklahoma artist and educator. The collection is installed on the fourth floor of the UCO library.In addition, the artwork from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is on display. The collection was initially displayed at the UCO Library in 2000 and used as a teaching tool within the university's visual arts and education programs.These recovered works were found mainly on the upper floors of the Murrah building or in the east plaza following the bombing in April 1995.This collection of fiber tapestries, woven hangings, photographs and metal sculptures represents the height of the contemporary crafts movement during the 1970s. For viewers, the return of this collection offers a unique opportunity to le...