News

Gallery display features Black History Month contest entries

The North Iowa Diversity Appreciation Team’s (NIDAT) Black History Month writing and visual arts contest entries will appear on display at the MacNider Art Museum on February 28 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The display is free to view and open to the public.

“We would like to honor the contributions of Black Americans to our nation, our state, our region and each of the towns represented by student work. We also like to encourage our school students to use their talents to recognize those honors,” Karen Regal, NIACC communication instructor and NIDAT member, said.

Participants in the writing and visual arts contests included elementary, middle and high school students from across North Iowa, including Mason City, Clear Lake, Forest City, Rockwell-Swaledale, Central Springs, Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock and Newman Catholic.

Students were asked to create works that recognized and celebrated African-American culture, contributions and history.

Contest entries were judged by NIACC instructors Marilyn Shelby and Joe Davis.

The winning visual art will be awarded a commemorative stamp by the Mason City Post Office, while all other art will be published, along with all the writing submissions, in the first NIDAT publication, The Bridge: Celebrating North Iowa Diversity Through Black History.

Sponsors of the NIDAT Black History Month writing and visual arts contests are NIACC and Clear Lake Bank and Trust.

For more information on the gallery display or NIDAT, please contact Regal at 641-422-4158 or toll-free 1-888-GO NIACC, ext. 4158, or visit northiowadiversity.org.