The Fayetteville Arts Festival begins tomorrow !

If you’re interested in volunteering (and volunteers are needed !) call 479-571-3337 or email heather@fayettevilledowntown.org to sign up!

Volunteers are needed for both weekend !  Please support the Fayetteville Arts Festival !

ddp gallery presents Intuition: Paintings by Megan Chapman and Ceramic Works by Helen Phillips. The exhibition is from August 15 – September 29, 2007. A reception for the artists will be held on Thursday August 30 from 5-8pm. The gallery is located at 7 East Mountain Street, between Fayetteville’s historic Downtown Square and North College Avenue.

Gallery owner, Dede Peters, named the current exhibition “Intuition”, for two reasons. One is that both artists use their own individual perceptive insight when they create. The other is that the viewer has an immediate, instinctive sense of the work when they see it.

Megan Chapman, a Fayetteville native, paints in jeweled, natural hues. Chapman uses a variety of media including oil, acrylic, pastel, graphite, charcoal and other mediums to create the layers in her work. Brush and overlay techniques produce horizon lines and vertical blocks of color that imbue the paintings with a sense of landscape and architecture. Chapman further draws the viewer into her tranquil paintings with her use of organic symbols. Prevalent is the lotus flower and a seed-like shape - that for the artist - represent an object ready to burst with knowledge. Megan Chapman paints to music, often being inspired by the lyrics. As a musician can match notes to verse, Chapman is able to match title to content. For instance, “Cast Away” shows a lone oval-shaped seed symbol in a different color and physically separated from a flock of seeds. The dreamlike painting is sure to reach each viewer’s subconscious.

Helen Phillips had been working with clay for almost fifty years. Her art, whether functional or sculptural is a fusion of spirit and matter. Clay is the matter, the medium that best conveys her feelings about living and dying, anxiety and delight, love and fear. Currently living and working Bruno, Arkansas - Phillips has traveled all over the globe to be inspired and hone her technique. She found familiarity with the Japanese ideals of strength and honesty as well as the connection of spirit and natural worlds. In West Africa, she confronted her fear of wild and dark art -turning it to fascination that flowed easily into her inspired pieces. She shared her immense knowledge of raku, wood and kiln firing combined with her technical wisdom of throwing, coiling and hand building by teaching for twenty-five years, retiring from the University of Central Arkansas in 2001. At ddp gallery one can see both her functional and sculptural pieces. The functional work consists of teapots, mugs, plates and bowls – all safe for dishwasher, microwave and oven use. Her sculptural work includes decorative vessels, wall pieces and her archetypal house-like sculptures. “Fragments of Out Past” resembles a round dwelling with window-like cutouts. It rests on a hand built wooden base and is topped with a found metal piece, perhaps from an old bicycle. The inspiration for this piece came from listening to news reports of cultural losses in the Middle East. Haunted by the imagery of loss, Phillips felt compelled to get it out of her body and into the world – ready to encounter the viewer.

Originally Published August 26, 2007:

Art, Music Programs Give Students Confidence, Appreciation, Creative Outlet
By Rose Ann Pearce

SPRINGDALE — Liz Mathews was surprised when none of the sixth-graders in her art class could identify an American artist.

That’s when she decided to focus on American art, introducing students to the likes of Frederic Remington, Charles Russell and other famous names associated with cowboy art. It ties into American history the students are learning in social studies.

On the tables in her classroom at Hellstern Middle School, traced outlines of a horse were on the brown Kraft paper sheets at each seat. The students traced horses and will choose color and value to complete the project.

Art and music classes begin in first grade in Springdale schools. All other school districts have similar art and music classes. Read more…

The Morning News

This article was published on Monday, August 13, 2007 11:15 PM CDT in News

Cultural arts district identified

By Dug Begley
THE MORNING NEWS FAYETTEVILLE — Ask Daniel Hintz what the proposed cultural arts district in Fayetteville is and you get a complicated answer.

It’s an industrial park for creative companies. A place where economic development and aesthetics work together to lure not only businesses, but restaurants, retailers and residents.

But the cultural arts district is also a tool to keeping the cultural amenities in Fayetteville in place, supporting them and adding new ones. It’s a way to tell prospective gallery owners they want to choose a spot near the Walton Arts Center, for example. Read more…

September 1, 2, & 3 2007
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday

Sponsored by the Arts Center of the Ozarks and the Prairie Grove Lions Club.

Kick off the fall season of great Northwest Arkansas craft fairs with the oldest one of all — the Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair.

Every Labor Day Weekend you’ll find something old and something new, something just for fun and something educational when the beautiful Battlefield Park in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, comes alive with the sights, sounds and smells of the Clothesline Fair. Over 50,000 visitors from all over the region annually join in the fun, located just 12 miles west of Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Highway 62 west. Admission is free.

Two hundred fifty top artists and craftsmen from all over the United States are selected by jury to display their wonderfully creative artworks and crafted goods. You’ll find everything from hand-built pottery to soft dolls, from weathervanes to bird houses—and much more!

The historic Battlefield Park is a charming setting for all this talent. The sight of a Civil War battle, it offers a museum, hiking trails, playgrounds and a restored civil war village. Refreshments are available all day long. Entertainment events of all kinds add to the festive atmosphere.

for more information, visit www.artscenteroftheozarks.org/clotheslinefair2.html

 FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville Public Library will host Ozark Writers Live!, a showcase of regional authors and their writing, on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The event begins at 9 a.m. and the final author talks will begin at 3:30 p.m.

Authors slated to speak include Roy Reed, Donald Harington, Tim Ernst, Phillip W. Steele, Radine Trees Nehring, Joan Shaddox Isom, Terrye Robins, Pat Carr, Velda Brotherton, Nancy Williams and Suzette Haden Elgin. 

Most authors will speak about 50 minutes, including time for question and answer sessions.

Several authors will have their books available for purchase during the day. The library will also offer workshops during the day to allow authors a chance to offer writing tips.

Fayetteville Adult Education will also be on hand to discuss classes it will offer during the upcoming fall semester.

Ozark Writers Live! is being hosted in conjunction with the Fayetteville Arts Festival and is funded and produced through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact the Reference Department at 571.2222 x 4450 or visit www.faylib.org for a complete schedule.

When: Saturday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m. with the last authors beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Where: Fayetteville Public Library, Walker Community Room, Ann Henry Board Room & Leverenz Room.

Speakers: Local authors including Roy Reed, Tim Ernst, Terrye Robins, Pat Carr, Phillip W. Steele, Velda Brotherton, Nancy Williams, Donald Harington, Radine Trees Nehring, Suzette Haden Elgin and Joan Shaddox Isom. Workshops will be led by Marilyn Harris Collins, Kirby Estes, Martha Estes, J.B. Hogan, Sean Fitzgibbon and Barbara Youree.

Arts Live Theatre, Northwest Arkansas’ only dedicated children’s theatre, will be holding auditions for their fall production The Pirate Show on Thursday, August 30^th from 4pm-7pm and Saturday, September 1^st from 2-5 p.m. at Arts Live Theatre. All ages are invited to audition and previous experience is not necessary. Those auditioning are asked to prepare a short song and be prepared to read from the script. Jules Taylor, ALT faculty member, directs. Performances will be November 9, 10 & 11 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall. For additional information regarding Arts Live Theatre, its programs and productions, visit www.artslivetheatre.com or call 479-521-4932.