EHS senior named a top youth volunteer in the state

Spirit of the Community: Emmaline Landes, a senior at El Dorado High School, is a finalist for the Prudential Spirit of the Community Award and will take a trip to Washington, D.C. along with 101 other students across the United States.
Spirit of the Community: Emmaline Landes, a senior at El Dorado High School, is a finalist for the Prudential Spirit of the Community Award and will take a trip to Washington, D.C. along with 101 other students across the United States.

For the first time, one of El Dorado High School's seniors was named as a Prudential Spirit of Community Award recipient.

Emmaline Landes, along with Braden Lisowe of Benton, were named Arkansas's top two youth volunteers of 2020.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is a nationwide program that honors those in the middle- and high-school age range who show outstanding acts of volunteerism, according to a press release.

Two students from every state and Washington, D.C. receive the honor, which includes $1,000, medallions and a trip to Washington, D.C. for four days. During the trip, 10 students will be named as the country's top youth volunteers.

Landes began volunteering at a young age by raising money from lemonade stands with her brother and donating the money to Union County Animal Protection Services. In the sixth grade, she donated a painting for auction for the FurBall, an annual fundraiser for the animal shelter.

"After the FurBall more and more people started asking me to paint a picture of their animals," Landes said in an email to the News-Times. "Seeing the impact my donation had, I realized that I could continue to donate my work to help causes I cared about and it became something fun for me to do."

Landes said she continues to donate her work because she not only loves painting, but she knows she can help others while doing what she loves.

In 2018, Landes was named as a Distinguished Finalist for the same awards for raising thousands of dollars for local charities.

According to the release, Landes has raised more than $16,000 for nonprofit organizations and causes since 2013 by selling or donating more than 300 pieces of her original artwork.

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Roger Landes

Art Show: Emmaline Landes setting up her first solo exhibit at the South Arkansas Arts Center. Landes is one of the youngest artists to exhibit a solo art show at SAAC.

Landes also started selling Heartworks pieces, which she began in memory of her grandmother who died in 2016 from ALS.

"The Heartworks series I created represents that a little can change a lot. Small acts of kindness can change the lives of others," Landes said. "By creating small works that are widely affordable; small gifts started to build and grow."

Most of the paintings in the series are 6x6 and range from $30 to $50.

She said it's important to her to give to others because it makes her feel the presence of God.

In addition to raising money for charities and nonprofits, Landes is a cheerleader and an Advanced Placement art student. Although that keeps her busy, she still paints for fun and has many projects going on.

She said her favorite project, though, is the work she created for her first solo art show called "Love and Reflections" at the South Arkansas Arts Center in February 2019. Landes said the paintings were all reflections of the strong women in her life she lost.

As a senior, Landes said she plans on continuing her passion for art at Ole Miss or the University of Arkansas and later pursuing a masters in art therapy.

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