Each year, Lawrencians eagerly await the Transformations Charity Gala. Hosted by Deja Brooks, Transformations gives locals the opportunity to get glammed up (thanks to their drag queen mentors) and live their pageant personae for a night, all while competing for up to $10,000 on behalf of a local nonprofit. This year, the Lawrence Arts Center is lucky enough to have Jeff Burkhead representing us.
Speaking with Lawrence Magazine, Jeff described the work of the Arts Center in three words—“inspire, connect, educate”—and gave a shout-out to Director of Early Childhood Education Linda Reimond. “The preschool was founded in 1985,” Jeff said, “and since then Linda has taught thousands of kids. In fact, she is now teaching the children of parents who also went through the preschool. In 2004, Linda was awarded the Excellence in Education Award from the city of Lawrence and won the 2011 Governor’s Arts Award. Then in 2015, Linda was recognized with the Henry Ford Teacher Innovator Award, one of 10 first-place winners in the country. ‘She’s a treasure to Lawrence and to the nation, really,’ said Arts Center CEO Margaret Weisbrod Morris. I couldn’t agree more.”
We are so grateful to Jeff for the support. Please join us in cheering him on! Transformations takes place on January 26th at Liberty Hall.
This year, you can get ready for the big night with an encore screening of the film, Transformations! This short documentary, which chronicles the journey of four previous Transformations contestants, premiered at the 2018 Free State Festival and recently screened at DOC NYC. Transformations will be shown at the Lawrence Arts Center on January 18 at 7:00 pm. Get your tickets!