Planning for First Night Fayetteville is already under way.

The theme for this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration is “Paint the Town Green!” A focus will be placed on using recyclable materials for visual arts projects and installations. Musical and performing groups will be encouraged to “recycle” old materials into fresh and new interpretations.

The Imagination Station will be filled with recyclable materials to use for creation of the traditional “First Night hats,” and recycling bins will be placed around to collect materials and trash throughout the night.

The family-oriented event will also have new leadership this year. Barbara Price Davis will serve as this year’s event coordinator.

Davis served on the board of directors for First Night Fayetteville for the past six years and has served as head of the program committee and board treasurer. She is also the executive director for YouthCAN!

Morgan Hicks, the coordinator for the past three years, chose to take a year off.

Already recruited to participate are the Yvonne Richardson Center summer camp and the Summer Art Explosion students at the Community Imagination Studio. Students have begun creating giant flowers and “critters” out of recyclable materials. Donations of recyclable materials are needed to continue the work, including cardboard tubes, plastic water bottles, empty prescription and pill bottles, plastic foam, bottle caps, coffee cans, cat litter buckets, tissue paper, old matchstick blinds and similar materials. Donations can be dropped off at the Community Imagination Studio in Fayetteville at 818 N. Sang Ave. or call 442-8585 to arrange for pickup.

For more First Night information, call Davis at 443-4797.

Publication:Northwest Arkansas Times; Aug 3, 2008;

It’s that time of year again as Arts Live Theatre, Northwest Arkansas’ only dedicated Children’s and Youth Theatre Company, begins its Fall Fun with classes beginning the week of September 15th!

Classes will be offered in a variety of sections for grades K-12, including the popular Playmakers series for the youngest actors-to-be, and the Theatre Lab series for grades 8-12. Classes include various levels of acting from beginner to advanced, Comedy Improv., productions classes and more! Arts Live will also be offering special performance opportunities for enrolled upper level students.  Classes will conclude the week of November 17th with showcase performances.

Arts Live provides professional training for young actors through classes and main stage performances. Past productions include The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, High School Musical, Grease and most recently, Seussical The Musical. “Arts Live is a tremendous opportunity for young actors to receive outstanding training,” said Mark Landon Smith, Arts Live Theatre Artistic Director. “Our faculty comes with years of professional experience nationally and internationally, so whether a young actor comes to us with an eye at a professional career, or comes to us just to have fun, Arts Live provides an exceptional experience in a positive and creative environment.” Classes and auditions are open to any interested persons and no previous acting experience is required.

Auditions for the original production of Christmas Carol High School with be Saturday and Sunday, September 27th and 28th.

For information regarding fall class schedule, upcoming auditions, productions and sponsorship opportunities, visit artslivetheatre.com or call 479.521.4932.

BY MARSHA L. MELNICHAK Northwest Arkansas Times

First, the Fayetteville City Council said no to using cash reserves in budgeting. Then it voted to pull $12,500 from the same reserves for an arts festival.

With a 5-3 vote, the council approved a resolution “to request that the budget to be submitted to the City Council by the administration be balanced.”

    “Basically this is fiscal sustainability. To me, it’s a no-brainer,” said Ward 3 Alderman Bobby Ferrell, who proposed the amendment.

He explained the idea is that when the administration brings a budget to the council for consideration, it should be prepared without use of the city’s cash reserves. Despite that request, the city administration may propose a budget that relies on cash reserves.

“I’ll be bringing forward the best budget that we can. That’s my job. It might mean reserves,” Mayor Dan Coody said after the meeting. “I don’t know yet. We won’t know until we get all the budget figures back from all the divisions and process them.”

    Cash reserves can be described as the city’s savings, said Paul Becker, finance and internal services director. They are not a “rainy-day fund,” which is a specifically designated account, he said. Fayetteville does not have a rainy-day fund.

    City Attorney Kit Williams said the resolution was, as it states, a request.

    “I guess the administration can reject that request,” he said.

    Ferrell said his proposal was intended to tighten the budget, not tie staff hands in preparing the budget.

    Ward 2 Aldermen Kyle Cook and Nancy Allen and Ward 4 Aldermen Lioneld Jordan and Shirley Lucas joined Ferrell in support of the resolution.

    Lucas explained that the council works every year not to go into the reserve and finds itself whittling down the proposed budget.

    Ward 1 Aldermen Adella Gray and Brenda Thiel and Ward 3 Alderman Robert Rhoads voted against the resolution.

    Coody said at the meeting that not being able to use the reserves could mean raising property taxes or laying people off to have a balanced budget when it is proposed to the council.

    He said after the meeting that he would not advocate a property tax increase this year and that the city is not in a position to cut the workforce because it is already understaffed.

    Thiel said she would rather see what the city departments think is essential. Without use of the reserves to balance the budget, she said, the council could be put in the position of picking and choosing which city employees get laid off.

    Arts festival

    A few minutes after the budget discussion, Jordan proposed providing $32,500 to Fayetteville Downtown Partners for producing the 2008 Fayetteville Arts Festival.

    That figures was 13 times greater than the amount requested by the group and more than three times the amount of cash donations raised so far by the organization.

    Fayetteville Downtown Partners, which is producing the Labor Day weekend festival, did not request city money during the 2008 budget process but asked for $2,500 at the council’s agenda setting session last week.

    Downtown Partners board President Daniel Keeley told the council Tuesday that the organization had raised about $10,000 in donations.

    As part of his rationale for his amendment, Jordan cited previous council funding for trails, purchase of urban forest and support for the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks from the economic development fund.

    That money is part of the city’s general fund cash reserves and is part of the money remaining from the sale of the Wilson Springs Business Park property, now known as springwoods.

    “I know that we have talked a lot about supporting the arts program, and I think it’s time that we do that,” Jordan said.

    Allen quickly seconded his amendment, which would have changed the city’s contract with Downtown Partners from $2,500 to $32,500.

    Rhoads said he was torn between wanting to support the festival and not spending more than the city should.

    “If I had all the money in the world, I’d give you a whole lot more than $32,500, but down the road I think we’ll have to come up with some funds … to maintain and enhance the Walton Arts Center,” he said.

    The amendment to provide $32,500 for the festival failed with a 5-3 vote. Jordan, Allen and Cook voted for it; Gray, Thiel, Rhoads, Ferrell and Lucas voted against it.

    However, the council then voted unanimously to provide $12,500 for the arts festival.

    Other business

    The council approved an amendment about street design and access, the hiring of two police officers, adding a provision for an energy efficiency certificate to the energy code, and a planned zoning district for a Habitat for Humanity development.

    A proposal to allow Aframe signs was left on first reading at the request of city planning staff, which wants to make some changes to it.

    Annexation of Holcomb Heights III was approved with a 7-1 vote. Cook voted against it.

Publication:Northwest Arkansas Times; Date:Aug 6, 2008

By Skip Descant, The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE - The Fayetteville Arts Festival got more than it bargained for Tuesday night when the Fayetteville City Council unanimously agreed to fund it $12,500.

The original proposal before the council was $2,500, which most members appeared to see as too low.

In July, the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission voted to give the festival $2,500 if the city coughed-up another $2,500. With the city council increasing the amount, the festival will get a total of $15,000 from the two public bodies.

The money will come from the city’s economic development fund, which now has about $1.2 million set aside as a reserve in the general fund, said Paul Becker, Fayetteville’s finance director.

Because the City Council legally can’t give money to an event like the arts festival, Fayetteville will enter into contract with Fayetteville Downtown Partners - the organizing body behind the festival - which will use the money to “promote, produce and manage” the festival.

“This will really help us with the marketing and advertising,” said Sarah Lewis, a member of the festival’s board of directors who spoke after the council vote.

The arts festival’s ideal budget is $54,000, said Daniel Keeley, the director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners.

So far, the group has attracted about $14,000 in in-kind donations and another $10,000 in private contributions. Another $15,000 puts the festival at $39,000.

“We’re only going to spend what we get,” said Keeley, who hinted that advertising and printing budgets likely would need to be scaled back.

However, if a previous proposal by council member Lioneld Jordan would have passed, the mood around the festival board would have been downright festive Tuesday night.

Jordan’s proposal was to give the festival $32,500. That proposal failed in a 3-5 vote, with only Jordan and council members Nancy Allen and Kyle Cook supporting.

“I support the arts, but I’m sorry, I can’t support this,” said Alderman Bobby Ferrell.

“I thought $2,500 was too low,” remarked council member Robert Rhoads, “but I think $32,500 is too high.”

Even Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody, a self-described art collector, did not support the proposal.

“How can we tell our employees, ‘We’ll give $32,500 to someone that didn’t ever ask for it, but we’re unwilling to give you a raise,’” said Coody.

“But we did spend $75,000 to bring in a consultant to ‘talk’ about economic development,” Jordan remarked.

Both Jordan and Coody will face each other in the upcoming mayor’s race.

GO & DO

Fayetteville Arts Festival
When: Aug. 29-31, Sept. 5-7
Where: Fayetteville Town Center

Wednesday, August 6th at 7pm

The Garden Room

Ozark Mountain Smokehouse

205 West Dickson Street

Fayetteville

Reception immediately following the screening

Hors D’Oeuvres

Cash Bar

Tickets: $20

Proceeds benefit The Oxford American Literary Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Dear Arts Fans,

At tonight’s meeting, City Council will be voting whether or not to contract with FDP for this year’s Fayetteville Arts Festival in the amount of $2500.  If they vote to pay the money, A and P has already agreed to match that amount.

Please consider coming to tonight’s meeting and saying a few brief words in support of the festival and to encourage the council to accept the contract.  If you would rather, you can also email the aldermen and women with your comments.  Their email addresses can be found at the city’s website accessfayetteville.org

Thanks to you all.  The meeting starts at 6pm at the City Administration Building, downtown Fayetteville.

Sincerely,
Daniel Keeley

BY SUSANNAH PATTON Northwest Arkansas Times

A free public art installation is expected to bring thousands of visitors to Dickson Street this fall.

Slow Dancing, created by David Michalek, is a series of 43 larger-than-life, hyperslow-motion video portraits of dancers and choreographers from around the world.

The videos will be projected on three 12-foot by 24-foot screens on the front of the Walton Arts Center from Oct. 16 through Nov. 13 and will be visible to pedestrians in the vicinity.

Projections will run from 7-10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 7 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday.

Terri Trotter, interim president and CEO of the Walton Arts Center, said Fayetteville will be the third city in the United States where the project is seen. It premiered in New York City, appeared in Los Angeles and went to Montreal this summer, she said. It will show a few dates in Europe before coming to Fayetteville, she said.

“There’s been some good buzz about it,” Trotter said. “It’s been publicized numerous times in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. We plan to publicize it region- ally, and I think we’ll have some good regional draw for it.”

She said she also expects a lot of visitors from all over Northwest Arkansas.

“It should be a beautiful time of year, and it’s a free activity,” she said.

Trotter suspects people will come to see the show and also take time to shop, eat and drink.

According to the Arts and Economic Prosperity III Study conducted by Americans for the Arts, Trotter said, people in Northwest Arkansas spend an average of $20 beyond the price of the ticket when they go to an arts event. People coming from outside the two-county area spend an average of $50 above the ticket price, she said.

With a conservative projection of 25,000 attendees, Trotter predicts $683,000 could be added to the local economy over the course of the event.

For that reason, she’s hoping the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission will contribute $20,000 to help with the costs associated with the production, a total of approximately $200,000.

Trotter said the production can create a festival-like environment. People react to it differently, she said, and either watch intently or carry on conversations about the videos.

According to the production’s Web site, each of the video portraits is shot on a specially constructed set using a high-speed, high-definition camera recording at 1,000 frames per second. The result is about 10 minutes of extreme slow motion.

Three portraits are randomly selected for each cycle, allowing viewers to watch and compare dancers from different styles and cultures.

Trotter said the project has been called stunning simply because of its scale.

“The movements are almost undetectable at first until you watch it for a while,” she said. “It creates an interesting experience because you can see so much.”

The production seemed like a great follow-up to the Walton Arts Center’s highway flowers, a public art project along Interstate 540, Trotter said.

“We like to be able to offer that public art component, and it’s also very focused on the heart and soul of what we do, which is performing arts,” she said. “It’s an interesting mix of visual arts with a special emphasis on the dancers. It seemed to be something that fit with what we’re doing.”

Publication:Northwest Arkansas Times;     Date:Aug 1, 2008

Thursday, August 7, at 6pm New Design School will host an open house that will include a panel of professional graphic designers.

Find out…
What should someone to do if they are interested in graphic design as a career?
What do employers look for in a graphic designer?

What does the ideal portfolio look and feel like?

Designers will answer questions about jobs, portfolios and what skills can best prepare you for the career. Then you can ask questions to the panelists or to the interviewer, Sonia Davis Gutiérrez, founder, about New Design School seminars, instructors and materials needed for enrollment.

Guests include Jeannie Ozlanski, graphic designer with Tyson, Eric Huber also a graphic designer with Tyson and Justin Williams of Pixelbenders.

818 N. Sang Ave., Fayetteville, AR (479)442-8585
www.communityimaginationstudio.org

JULY EVENTS

SATURDAY STUDIO HOURS
YouthCAN!’s Community Imagination Studio invites you to Saturday Studio Hours every week from 10-4! Please join us at the Community Imagination Studio, 818 N. Sang Ave. in Fayetteville. During Saturday Studio Hours, we open our doors to community members of all ages to come, use our studio space and art supplies to paint, draw, make collages, or get creative with clay. Staff artists will be on hand to help guide you .

Featured projects for Saturday, July 12th: Passport to Art!  Join us this week as we travel through art to visit Turkey and China!  We will be weaving rugs and painting ceramic tiles.

Featured projects for Saturday, July 19th: Passport to Art!  This week’s theme is Japan! We will create netsuke, or miniature Japanese sculptures, origami, soft sculptures, and rice paper lanterns.

Featured projects for Saturday, July 26th : Passport to Art!  This week we’ll visit Italy!  Stop by and paint upside down like Michelangelo, learn to make figure sculptures and figure drawings.  We will also be making Arte Povera, or “poor art” out of rocks sticks and twine.

JULY’S ARTIST WORKSHOP SERIES

The Community Imagination Studio invites all of the Northwest Arkansas community to participate in the Saturday Workshop Series. The Workshop Series will be held on the 3rd Saturday of every month and involves a demonstration of the facilitating artists’ methods, guided instruction, and a chance for participants to get feedback on their work.

Join us for July’s Saturday Workshop and learn basic knitting techniques with Alison and Amy.  The workshop will be July 19th  from 2-4. Relax this summer vacation and start knitting gift items for the Holiday Season! The Saturday Workshop Series will be $10 per participant. The Community Imagination Studio is located at 818 N. Sang Ave., in Fayetteville.  For more information about this program, please visit www.communityimaginationstudio.org/ or contact Alison Carter at alison@communityimaginationstudio.org or call 479-442-8585.

MOMMY & ME ART CLASSES!
Mommy & Me Art Classes at the Community Imagination Studio
For Parents or Grandparents and their little ones ages 18 months-5 years of age. Together, you will explore art in all its wonderful messiness! Art teaches developmental and cognitive skills such as problem solving, cause and effect, color mixing, and many more! The masterpieces that you take home will be treasured for years! Class meets once a week on alternating Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 10 to 11 am. Cost is $10 per class, per child. Register for whole month and receive a $5 discount if you have more than one child.

Featured Projects for July 8th: This week’s theme is Heat Survival!  Come to the studio to create tools to help you beat the summer heat.  We will be making elephant squirt toys, silly sunglasses, water purses, and sponge balls!

Featured Projects for July 16th: This week we will be reading “Black Meets White” by Justine Fontes.  We will be creating tape and paper resist paintings and interactive collages.

Featured Projects for July 22nd:  This week’s theme is Passport to Art!  Come to the studio and visit Italy and Japan.  We will experience what Michelangelo felt like as he painted lying down.  We will also paint landscapes and make paper lanterns.

Featured Projects for July 30th: Vroom! Clatter! Smack!  During this class we will create art that moves!  We will make a balloon car, noisemakers and kites.

Beginning Web Site / $225
Mondays 14, 21, 28 and August 4 / 6 pm–8 pm

Beginning Illustrator / $225
Tuesdays 15, 22, 29 and August 5 / 6 pm–8 pm

Fall Makeshops include Photoshop, scanning and D.I.Y (Do it yourself) recycled CD packaging, schedule to be announced

Calendar:
www.newdesigncenter.org/calendar.html
Descriptions:
www.newdesigncenter.org/makeshops.html Read the rest of this entry �