LAURINBURG – Three distinguished fine arts awards will be presented to the recipients of the 30th Annual Sam Ragan Fine Arts Awards at St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Feb. 4.

The honorees include Mary Louise “Mel” Bringle for music, Arthur McDonald for art and David Rigsbee for literature.

“Each year, we honor distinguished North Carolinians – past and present,” said Ron Bayes, chair of the Ragan Awards Committee. “Honorees are persons who have, over a long period, been outstanding practitioners of their art, and who have selflessly shared their talent with other creators, working in their primary genre and beyond.”

Recognized in 2002 as an “emerging hymn text writer of the US and Canada,” Bringle has won numerous international competitions for hymn texts, and is the author of two single-author collections: Joy and Wonder, Love and Longing (GIA 2002) and In Wind and Wonder (GIA 2007). Her texts are included in hymnals and supplements of numerous denominations and her translations from the Spanish figure in a bilingual hymnal under production by GIA. She currently serves as president of The Hymn Society in the US and Canada, and is chairing the committee of the Presbyterian Church USA to create a new denominational hymnal.

Bringle is professor of philosophy and religious studies and chair of the Humanities Division at Brevard College. She received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University, with particular interests in practical and pastoral theology, and taught for 17 years at St. Andrews. Her scholarly work bridges the disciplines of theology and psychology in a contemporary approach to the seven deadly sins, including books on Despair: Sickness or Sin? and The God of Thinness: Gluttony and Other Weighty Matters (both Abingdon Press). She has served as a consultant for the Office of Health Ministries of the Presbyterian Church USA and assisted in the production of a documentary, Honest Talk about Eating Disorders. She is an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Hendersonville.

McDonald is an Asian influenced papermaker who makes the paper in Black Mountain from the inner bark of trees before transforming it into works of art in his Charleston, S.C. studio.

“My art explores contemporary ideas through the use of an ancient craft,” he said in his artist statement. “Working with the inner bark of trees I create handmade paper that honors techniques invented in China c. 100 CE.”

McDonald traveled through Burma, China , Thailand, Mongolia, Tibet and Laos over the past decade to hone his craft. He also studied at the Penland School of Craft with Mina Takahaski, Jiyoung Change and Marilyn Sward to continue his growth, with additional workshops at Booworks in Asheville, Arrowmont Craft School and Appalachian Craft Center. His exhibits have been held at Cone Ten Pottery Studio and Nina Liu and Friends Gallery, both in Charleston. He had two works selected for “The Healing Power of Art” exhibit in Lexington, Ky., and was featured in a one-person exhibition at the Black Mountain Center for the arts.

In an effort to continue the growth of Asian papermaking, McDonald has recently taught at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts, Cloud Cottage Buddhist Sangha, Gibbes Museum of Art School, Montreat Art and the Spirit Workshop and Slow Book Salon of Western North Carolina.

Rigsbee contributes to literature not only as a published poet, sporting 12 full books and two more in publication for 2010, but also as an editor. Rigsbee most recently served as contributing editor and regular book reviewer for The Cortland Review but has previously served as the St. Andrews Press and Poetry Editor for the St. Andrews Review and co-founded the New Delta Review at LSU. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, North Atlantic Review, Prairie Schooner, The Southern Poetry Review and The St. Andrews Review.

His awards for literature include the 2009 Black Lawrence Poetry Price, American Library Association notable university press book and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Pound Prize in Experimental Poetry.

Rigsbee is a professor of English at Mount Olive College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia with areas of concentration in contemporary poetry and theory.

Following the presentation of the awards, Rigsbee will share some of his written works during the Fortner Writers’ Forum beginning at 8 p.m. in Orange Main Lounge. The forum is free and open to the public.

For more information, please call 910-277-5310.