The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts (LCVA) held its 2017 Community Achievement in the Arts Awards ceremony April 29 during which members and organizations in the community were recognized for their efforts in advancing the arts in Farmville and across the Heart of Virginia.

The honorees included Dr. Mary Jo Stockton, who was awarded the individual award; Mainly Clay, which was awarded the business award; the Virginia Children’s Book Festival, which received the organization award; Dr. Alec Hosterman, who received the volunteer of the year award; Austin Van Horn, who received the student volunteer of the year award; Farmville Town Manager Gerald Spates, who received the arts advocacy award; and Nancy Lockwood, who received the Barbara Dixon Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lockwood said winning the award, “meant the world.”

“I felt tremendously honored. I just never expected any such thing, and I guess it’s true that I’ve done nothing but art since I began, and now I’m 84,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood said she moved to Farmville in 1963 after her husband started working at Longwood College when she was expecting her second child.

“After that point, I started teaching classes in art to children, and since then I’ve taught both adults and children, separately,” Lockwood said. “At one time I had two back-to-back classes at the elementary school level because the schools got out at different times so I needed to have two to accommodate the interest.”

Lockwood said she loves working with children.

“Anybody working creatively is a joy, so I encourage that,” Lockwood said.

Spates said he was “tickled” that the LCVA chose him for the award.

“The LCVA has done a wonderful job with what they’ve done …,” Spates said. “It’s a great program, and it’s added a lot to Farmville.”

He said next to Green Front Furniture, the LCVA was a big draw for the downtown area.

“To be honored by such a group was an honor for me,” Spates said.

Pam Butler, the owner of Mainly Clay, said her business was truly honored for having been recognized.

“Certainly it’s a group effort here,” she said. “We have many people teaching pottery wheel classes and helping load kilns, and (it’s) certainly not something I did alone,” Butler said. “It’s one of the exciting things I think about Mainly Clay is that we’re a pottery community here, and we love being in downtown Farmville.”