Mountain View folklife advocate and musician Kay Thomas is among the 2026 recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards, which honor individuals and organizations for contributions to Arkansas’ arts community.
The Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of Arkansas Heritage, announced the award recipients and said they will be honored March 13 at Robinson Center in Little Rock. Thomas will receive the Folklife Award for her decades-long work preserving and promoting Ozarks traditions.
Born in Little Rock to parents who moved from Little River County in the late 1940s, Thomas was influenced early by their love of music, quilting, dancing, and traditional crafts. After attending the Arkansas Folk Festival in Mountain View in 1966, she moved to the Ozarks and began working with the Ozark Foothills Handicraft Guild and later the Ozark Folk Center.
Thomas collaborated with the Committee of One Hundred to develop craft apprenticeship programs aimed at preserving traditional skills. She retired from the Folk Center in 2004 but continued performing music and expanding her quilting into art and machine quilting.
She has performed with groups including The Blairs, Leatherwoods, Granny Chicks and Chinkypin and has been active in the Hill ’n Hollow Quilt Guild. She also volunteers with the Stone County Historical Society Museum in Mountain View, where she serves as vice president.
“The Governor’s Arts Awards are bestowed upon those artists, philanthropists and educators who have helped build and strengthen Arkansas’ thriving creative communities,” said Shea Lewis, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “It’s our annual opportunity to showcase these leaders’ contributions to Arkansas’ creative economy and quality of life.”
The Governor’s Arts Awards program was established in 1991. Recipients are nominated by the public and selected by an independent panel of arts professionals. Tickets for the ceremony are on sale now. Click here for more information.
Image via Arkansas Arts Council
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