Fayetteville Arts Festival showcases assortment of artistic expressions
Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008
Driving around the countr yside one day, photographer Diana Michelle Hausam saw a fence made with bicycles.
It piqued her interest, she says now, so she stopped, wanting to photograph them.
She left a note at the door of the place. A few days later she received a written letter from the owner, Tim West.
When she went out to his place, she forgot about the bicycles and focused on West, with his white hair, beard and intriguing features.
“ I thought, ‘ Here’s my subject, ’” Hausam said.
“ He’s so photogenic and interesting. ”
The results were three photographic portraits Hausam created after spending just a day with the man, something that does not usually happen, she said. The portraits were part of Hausam’s first booth exhibit Saturday in the Open Space Gallery of Fayetteville Town Center. One photo, called “ innocence” shows him holding out a kitten, while in another, called, “ Here I Am” he is riding a bicycle. Another is a haunting portrait of a man Hausam says chooses to live an uncomplicated life in Winslow. It is simply named “ The Artist. ” It was just one of many creative expressions on display during the Fayetteville Arts Festival this weekend. It will continue next weekend. Hausam lives in Farmington and is studying art at the University of Arkansas. She also works three jobs to help finance her photography. She specializes in going into abandoned homes and areas in the Ozarks and photographing them, evoking a time long forgotten: An old wood church in the middle of the countryside, a rusted out Country Squire station wagon in the middle of the woods and a headless head lamp. An admitted shy person, she says that she has shed some of her fears by going into abandoned locations. And she is recording some of the last remnants of the old Ozarks culture in the hills of Northwest Arkansas. “ There’s some interesting people out there, ” she said.
Diggiti Mar y Littrell and her grandson, Dawson, 8, both of Springdale, on Saturday visited the New Design School exhibit in the Town Center, where Dawson and others were learning the art of “ diggiti, ” which children to build a larger structure allows creative expression on computers instead of walls.
Dawson listed his artistic influences as Monet and Van Gogh.
Two rows of computers were set up for folks to create their diggiti designs.
Sonia Davis Gutierrez, owner of the New Design School, said the diggiti program allows people to “ jump on the computer and try something new. ”
The Boston Mountain Potters Association and Flat Rock Clay of Fayetteville allowed visitors to paint clay bowls for the Nov. 11 Empty Bowls Project that raises money for the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. This is the third year for the painting event.
The booth was set up outside the Town Center.
Hallie, 6, contemplated what she would paint on her bowl as her mother, Amy Broome of Fayetteville, watched. This was their first time to participate. Doris Smith of Fayetteville painted a bowl as part of this project for the first time, too. She takes a clay class from Kelley Wilkes, who owns Flat Rock Clay, which is how she got involved. Smith says working with clay helps her forget about everything else but what she is creating. Plus, she said, “ I get my hands dirty. ”
Self-portraits YouthCAN’s Community Imagination Studio provided a place for people to make self-portraits. The booth was called “ Exhibit You !” Visitors created their selfportraits, which were hung from a clothesline gallery when they were finished. Most of the participants were children, but some adults tried their hand at it. Some adults just sat next to their children and helped with the creative process.
Those creating self-portraits depicted their facial features, while others made collages from magazine images that revealed something about their sense of identity.
One self-portrait included magazine images of two different eyes, and words such as “ nesting”, “ feelin ’” and “ becoming. ”
Another depicted fish, while another included a Teddy bear, mountain goat and dolphins.
In one collage, the word “ inspiration” went with a serene forest scene.
Lily Ogle, 5, of Fayetteville, sat with her mom, Terra, and younger brother, Sam, as they worked on selfportraits.
This was their second year at the arts festival.
“ She loves art, ” Ogle said of her daughter, adding that anything the little girl can create, draw or cut and glue, “ she wants to do. ”
Next door to this booth, was an area presented by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, which, as part of its community effort, was providing a space to create a museum from recycled materials.
Many of the materials were made of paper, as toddlers and older children worked intently to add their creative statements, oblivious to the adults around them.
Another part of this booth was a diorama project in which small cardboard boxes were provided to hold miniature museums of their creators ’ liking.
“ Everybody collects something, ” said Lynn Berkowitz, director of education for Crystal Bridges, explaining the diorama.
The diorama, she said, allows people to put items together and create their own museum.
“ What would you want to have n your special museum ? ” she said. “ What’s important to you ?”
At the New Design School booth a few booths down, people were using computers to create their art.
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