Mid-Summer Edition!
Welcome to the mid-summer edition of Story Circle!
We’re excited to share the winning entries to our first poetry and essay contest and news about the Millican Salon, new partnerships and grant opportunities. We’re looking for volunteers!
Arthenia’s Voice
Each month we share from the literary legacy of our inspiration, Dr. Arthenia Jackson Bates Millican. This quote is from “Legitimate Resources of the Soul: An Interview with Arthenia Bates Millican,” by Jerry W. Ward and Arthenia Jackson Bates Millican, published in the Spring 1979 edition of Obsidian by the Board of Trustees of Illinois State University.
Feature Story
Searching the Darkness for the Light: Our First Contest Winners
This spring, Millican Arts asked writers to do something brave. Inspired by Dr. Arthenia Jackson Bates Millican’s words,
“I have kissed the darkness hello. And as I move, I search through that darkness for the most brilliant light,” we invited poets and essayists from around the country to face their own darkness honestly and search it for light. Middle schoolers, high schoolers and adults were all welcome.
The response moved us. We received 45 submissions from Sumter County and beyond, and awarded $1,600 in prizes across three divisions. Every entry carried something real, and we’re grateful to each writer who trusted us with their work. Choosing winners was not easy.
Our thanks go to the judges who made it possible: Joshua Miller, Sumter High School debate coach; Elisa Morelli, retired educator; and Bugsy Calhoun, performance poet. They read every entry with care and gave their time generously.
The winners are below, with links to their work. We hope you’ll read it, and we hope you’ll join us again, because this is only the first of what we intend to make a Millican Arts tradition.
ADULT
First Place – Essay – $800
ANNA JUBILEE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Second Place – Poem – $300
GABRIELLE SIMONE BEYAH, Southwest Atlanta, Georgia
Third Place – Essay – $200
ANAYA MICHELLE WILSON, Humble, Texas
HIGH SCHOOL
First Place – Essay – $200
AHMED AHMED, Bladensburg, Maryland
MIDDLE SCHOOL
First Place – Poem – $100
EHA GUPTA, Highland Park, Illinois
HONORABLE MENTIONS
ADULT POETRY
- “Nyctophobia” – JORDYN WILLIAMS
- “Behind the Darkness” – NANDIMILAN WADLEY
HIGH SCHOOL POETRY
- “Hands That Drag and Claw and Lift” – BRIANNA WESSEL
- “The Darkness that Consumes” – CEANNA RELLE
Millican News
The Millican Salons are a Resounding Success!
Carol and Bob Warner and Lorraine and Rick Jones at the April Millican Salon.
Henry Watkins, artist Dominique Hodge and Millican Arts Executive Director Rick Jones at the April Millican Salon.
Millican Arts hosted it’s second Salon on May 28th at the home of Rick and Lorraine Jones with 11 invitation-only guests in attendance. Rick opened with the reading of his essay titled “A Promise Worth Keeping – How Dr. Arthenia Jackson Bates Millican Changed My Life.” It captures the pivotal moment when a promise to his Aunt Arthenia evolved into a life’s calling.
Facilitated by hosts Bob and Carol Warner, Millican Salons are private gatherings with good company, good food, and a safe space to say what’s on your mind. No agenda, and no assigned topic. Just what you bring. Did you know that the American Revolution was birthed in Paris salons?
We envision Millican Salons to be curated gatherings where stories become bridges across cultural divides, hosted in the tradition of salonnières who changed the world. Our intent is to start local and build global. If you’re intrigued and are interested in attending, sponsoring or hosting an upcoming salon contact Rick.
Jeric Finnikin spent more than 10 months volunteering with Habitat for Humanity on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
Millican Arts is Growing!
We’re pleased to announce that Jeric Finnikin has joined the Millican Arts team as a technical assistant (TA) to Executive Director Rick Jones.
Jeric is working to streamline foundation operations and take many admin tasks off Rick’s desk. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Jeric has been living in Sumter for more than 11 years and is completing his Information Technology Certificate at Full Sail University.
He will return to Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter in the fall to complete his associates degree in information technology
Millican Arts Needs Your Help
The Foundation’s reach and impact depend on many hands with many skills, from recruiting members and sponsors, to working a grant application, running a Facebook account or wielding a hammer. No task is unimportant and even a few hours a month makes a difference.
Here are the seven ways you can help.
- Fundraising. Help build the base of people who give.
- Event Planning and Coordination. Salons, gatherings and the twice-annual Millican Circle gathering for foundation supporters.
- Foundation Operations Support. The behind-the-scenes work that keeps everything running.
- Social Media Management. Get the stories in front of people who haven’t found us yet.
- Grant Research and Writing. Find the funding and help make the case.
- Millican House Restoration. Hands, tools and know-how for the building itself.
- Book Publication. Bring Dr. Millican’s books back into print.
You don’t have to know where you fit. Head over to the form, check the boxes that call to you and we’ll follow up.
Board Member Herbert Johnson Recognized
Millican Arts Board Member Herbert Johnson
Herbert Johnson recently received two prestigious announcements: He’s been named Chorus Master of the newly formed Sumter Symphony Orchestra and will be an inaugural inductee into the Knowledge for College Educational Foundation Hall of Fame. The recognition “highlights individuals who have excelled in their careers, contributed to the betterment of education and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to enriching the lives of students and educators.” The ceremony will be held November 7, 2027. Congratulations, Herbert!
Millican Media Invests in Digital Learning Tool
As Millican Arts widens its influence and reach through arts education, digital learning and community engagement, we are investing in a proprietary digital learning platform designed specifically for educational institutions, non-profits, enterprise organizations and individuals.
Harmonious is a next-generation Learning Management Ecosystem (LME) that helps organizations design, deliver, measure and continuously improve learning and human development experiences. It was originally developed by Executive Director Rick Jones previous company, Logic2Performance. The platform extends beyond delivering learning by helping organizations understand, measure and demonstrate how learning, experiences and artistic expression contribute to personal growth, behavioral change and lasting impact. Harmonious is a key part of Millican Media, our affiliated for-profit media, marketing and learning technology company.
Our longest-running client partnership, Experience Happiness, continues today, delivering The Happiness Practice™ to organizations nationwide, with the Return on Happiness™ (ROH) measurement system powered by Harmonious.
Harmonious is currently undergoing a comprehensive brand refresh, including a new visual identity, logo and forward-looking interactive prototype that will be used to demonstrate the platform to investors, partners, and prospective clients.
Sponsor and Partner Recognition
We thank and welcome these partners, sponsors and new members to the Millican Arts family!
MEMBERS
We thank Tia Parker for supporting the Foundation.
PARTNERSHIPS
Millican Arts Forms Partnership with Experience Happiness and the CREATE Lab
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The Millican Arts Foundation and its affiliated creative and tech agency, Millican Media, have formed a partnership that includes Experience Happiness (TM) and the University of Maryland’s CREATE Research Lab, joining forces behind the Youth Happiness Movement (TM) (YHM) in two grant applications.
The CREATE Lab brings research and evaluation and Experience Happiness brings evidence-informed wellbeing practices and measurement, as well as public health leadership for sustainable implementation. Millican Arts holds accountability for the initiatives: coordinating partners, directing implementation and answering for outcomes.
Millican Arts applied for two grants as the convening partner for the Young Futures “Girls on Fire” grant and Morgan Stanley Innovation Awards grant. The Foundation’s research for the Hope Haven Harlem grant unearthed an unrecognized affinity between the work of our namesake Dr, Arthenia Jackson Bates Millican and her mentor, acclaimed Black poet Langston Hughes.
The partners are continuing to work together to refine their collaboration as they seek and write more grant applications together.
GRANTS
Minnesota Department of Education Grant Award
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Millican Arts will be helping implement an Educator Wellbeing Initiative through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education. The state-level initiative addresses educator burnout upstream by strengthening emotional capacity, relational wellbeing, leadership practices and healthier school cultures in partnership with The Happiness Practice (TM.) Millican Arts’ role focuses on storytelling, measurement support and digital infrastructure through Harmonious, its learning management ecosystem. The 15-month initiative runs through September 2027 and represents an important implementation pathway for demonstrating scalable wellbeing integration in education systems. |
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On the Horizon
First Baptist Church Legacy Stories Launching
Millican Arts and the First Baptist Missionary Church are launching a partnership in August to bring intergenerational storytelling, youth leadership and community legacy preservation to the church community. It brings together seniors and youth in a collaborative storytelling experience where wisdom is honored, relationships are strengthened, artistic expression is encouraged and history is preserved through high-quality digital media as the seniors share their lived experience with the young people.
Beginning in August, the participating youth will serve as: co-designers, researchers, interviewers, storytellers, videographers, audio technicians, photographers, editors, graphic designers and digital archivists.
The long-term vision is to establish the First Baptist Missionary Church Digital Legacy Library, a growing collection of oral histories that preserves the voices, experiences and legacy of the church for future generations.
This initiative embraces the Millican Arts’ belief that every story matters and that preserving those stories strengthens both individuals and communities.
August Millican Salon on Fourth Thursday
The by-invitation August Millican Salon will be held the fourth Thursday of the month at the newly renovated meeting space at the Williams Brice Edwards Charitable Trust offices in Sumter. Contact Rick Jones if you’re interested.
Emerging Artist Profile: Sarah Aldridge
We’ll feature emerging artist Sarah Aldridge in the next newsletter. Sarah recently debuted her work at the Under the Cover Bookstore in Sumter.
Fall Fundraising Drive Gearing Up
Millican Arts will only be as strong as the community behind it. That’s why this fall we’re kicking off a Fundraising and Membership Drive, reaching out through mail, email, text and face-to-face conversations to invite your support through memberships, donations and in-kind contributions.
The campaign wraps up in October with an intimate Millican Circle for Foundation supporters. It’s our way of saying thank you and bringing the people who make this work possible into the same room.
Tell Us Your Story. Because It Matters
Something happened that changed everything for you. Maybe it was a single conversation, a loss, an unexpected door that opened. Maybe it arrived quietly, and you didn’t recognize it as a turning point until later.
We want to hear about it.
Story Circle is opening its pages to you. Each issue, we’ll feature a reader story — a real account of a life-changing moment, told in your words. No polish required. No credentials needed. Just your truth.
Dr. Arthenia Millican spent a lifetime insisting that ordinary lives hold extraordinary meaning. That conviction is at the heart of everything we do at Millican Arts Foundation. Because every story matters — including yours.
How to submit:
Write up to 300 words about a moment that changed the direction of your life. Include your name, city and state, and — if you’d like — a photo of yourself. Send it to millicanarts@millicanarts.org with the subject line “My Story.”
A few things to know: We acknowledge every submission. Stories selected for publication may be lightly edited for length and clarity, and we’ll notify you before your story appears. Publication is based on space availability in a subsequent issue of Story Circle. By submitting, you grant Millican Arts Foundation first publication rights to print your story in Story Circle and on MillicanArts.org. All other rights remain with you, the author.
There’s no deadline. This is a standing invitation.
The circle is open. Step in.
Millican Arts Will Only Be As Strong as the Community that Supports It
Millican Arts goes where the stories are — into classrooms, communities and the lives of people whose voices deserve to be heard.
A Storykeeper helps keep the work alive. A Seedkeeper helps it take root.
Join with us to keep the movement in motion.
The Story Circle is the official newsletter of the Millican Arts Foundation.
Look for the Story Circle in your inbox every month, with several ways for you to get involved and shape this community.
