Celebrating the Arkansas Living Treasure Award

The Arkansas Living Treasure Award enters its 25th year, and this conversation honors a quarter century of recognizing the state’s master traditional artists and the people who built the program.

Jerry Fisk has been practicing as a Master Bladesmith for more than 40 years in Nashville, Arkansas. He is a National Living Treasure, and his efforts brought the Living Treasure designation to Arkansas. He has taught bladesmithing around the world and is a champion of traditional arts.

Scarlet Sims is the Program Coordinator for the Arkansas Arts Council, with a background in journalism, marketing, and education. She is a visual artist working across multiple mediums to create paintings and other artworks.

Together, Fisk and Sims look back at how the Living Treasure program came together, the artists it has honored, and what it means to keep this kind of recognition rooted in Arkansas community.