Reconstructing Art Walk features 28 regional artists
Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008
BENTONVILLE - For years, one of the most popular annual events on the Bentonville Square has been the Art Walk. Crowds of area residents - ranging from art enthusiasts to those who are simply curious about what new, interesting creations are being concocted - flock to the downtown area, where artists display their work.
With construction crews hacking away at concrete and pavement as part of the continuing Square renovation project, Art Walk is quite literally being reconstructed this time around. Rather than tucking the popular event away for a year, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Downtown Bentonville Inc. have teamed up to present Reconstructing Art Walk. And a juried exhibition, scheduled to open at 5 p.m. today at Crystal Bridges at the Massey, 125 W. Central Ave., figures to serve as the headline event.
The Reconstructing Art Walk exhibition at the Massey, Crystal Bridges' temporary space, will feature work by 28 artists living in northwest Arkansas who have been key names in Bentonville Art Walks past. Juried by Chris Crosman, chief curator for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a wide variety of media will be represented to showcase the diversity of art being produced in this region.
A photograph by William Dark, a teacher in the Rogers Public School District, will be on display, as well as a mixedmedia sculpture by Cindy Suter, owner of Fusion Art, a downtown Bentonville gallery. Steve Horan, a transplant from Chicago and current Bella Vista resident, will have an acrylic painting hanging at the Massey, as will be a watercolor by Bentonville artist Judi Harrison. Those are just a few of the local names.
In addition to the exhibition opening tonight, families and individuals of all ages will have an opportunity to meet the featured artists and make their own art on the Southwest A Street veranda. The free event is open to the public.
"What we were trying to do was create an exhibition representative of the variety of art being produced right in our backyard," Crosman said. "This exhibit is meant to be a snapshot, so to speak, of the artistic activity in the area. In many cases, this is new work that's never been shown publicly before."
For Horan, the opportunity to show his artwork as part of an exhibition organized by what is anticipated by many to become the premier American art museum in the world is something he both treasures and never dreamed possible.
"I've been really, really impressed with Crystal Bridges because they are intentionally going out of their way to get connected with local artists," Horan said. "So many of the big art museums and institutions around the country don't really have a place for the local guy, the living artists, and I think that's such a vibrant part of what art and expression is all about. You just don't get this kind of connect anywhere else, and I'm appreciative of this opportunity."
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