Kyle Kellams: This is Ozarks at Large. I'm Kyle Kellams. The annual Our Art, Our Region, Our Time exhibition from Walton Arts Center is, by design, a wholly new adventure each year. The exhibition features a wide range of media by creators who have a wide range of experience, from novice to internationally recognized artists, each work connected to this region.
This month, Kathy Thompson, curator, and Tom DeBari, director of visual arts and facilities at Walton Arts Center, came to the Carver Center for Public Radio. Kathy says the interest from artists in this fifth version of Our Art, Our Region, Our Time is at an all-time high.
Thompson: We have never had so many applicants for the art show. The regional artists—we had–
DeBari: I think, 235.
Thompson: I was going to say 242. I knew it was around that range. I know it was a lot. And I’m stopped on the street all the time and asked about it. I really believe that what we are doing, in keeping it regional, is letting people know the whole reason for doing it. There were two reasons for starting this. First, so that the Walton Arts Center could see how many people were really interested in the visual arts within the Walton Arts Center. And then also so that people in our community and our region could see how many artists there are.
And it’s incredible. Some of them have never made art before, and then some of them are professional artists who make their living doing this. So it’s a very wide range.
Kellams: Thomas, anything different for year five?
DeBari: Yeah, we’re going to be in a brand-new building. We’re going to be in the Porter Art Warehouse, which is located on the corner of Spring and West, right next to the Grub’s building and across from TheatreSquared on Spring Street. The city did an amazing job putting this building on the historic register, which, over the past year, you’ve probably seen people walking by and working on the exterior.
The interior is getting close to being finished, and we will be ready for this exhibit down to the line. It will be down to the line, but we’re really excited because we’re going to have 75 artists and 88 pieces in this show. It will be the first time we hang in this environment, so it’s really exciting for Kathy and myself. We’re excited to have the community in there to see what these amazing artists have made over the past year.
Kellams: Give us an idea of what we might see.
DeBari: We’ll see paintings and sculptures by a wide variety of artists. One thing I want to point out is that Tom Flynn and Michael Pantzer created this sculpture called Tornado Town, which commemorates the 2024 Memorial Day tornado that we had up in Rogers. We’re very excited to see that and have it in our space. It’s a massive piece—it weighs something like 420 pounds. It’s created with materials that were found after that tragedy that hit the whole area and affected so many people.
We’re very excited about that piece being in it. There are also just wonderful artists and makers throughout the region. To name a few others, we have a Chuck Davis photograph—that’s great, he’s been in a lot of shows. Leon Niehaus, who’s a legend in this area for sure. We have a beautiful basket-weaved pot that he made that’s unlike the other work I’ve seen from him in the past, and he’s been in a few of our shows.
Some of the faces, or some of the works, will be similar to what we’ve seen before, but you really get to see this development of people who have been making work for, I don’t know how long Leon’s been making work.
Thompson: For a long time. I even curated a show in the Walton Arts Center, a small one—I don’t know if you remember seeing it—in the corner of his work. That was maybe 15, 20 years ago, when Jenny Taylor Swain worked there.
It’s been really fun getting to know Leon, and I feel so happy to know who he is and to see his work change and morph. He always gets so excited about the show.
Kellams: Oct. 29 is the opening.
DeBari: Oct. 29 is the opening, yes. It’s also the grand opening of the Alexander Gallery at the Porter Art Warehouse. We are having a reception for the exhibition at 5:30 p.m. When people come in, they’ll hear remarks by Peter Lane to open up the building, and then everybody will be able to come in. It’s a smaller-capacity space, so we’re also partnering with a few of our neighbors.
Grub’s Bar & Grille is going to do a deal for us to keep people around, because we can’t have everyone who usually comes—attendance is usually around 500 people—so we’ve partnered with Grub’s, Rolando’s, and The Commons at TheatreSquared to help us with overflow and offer some drink deals.
It’s going to be a fun time for the whole area.
We’ll have a screen printer in the Underwood Garden, which is between Grub’s and the Walton Arts Center. They’ll be screen-printing a design based on the Our Art, Our Region, Our Time opening. People can bring an old T-shirt, bag, or scarf to print on. We’ll also have a few pre-printed shirts for sale.
We also want people to visit Resisting Collapse by Robin Horn, which is on our West Avenue Plaza next to the Walton Arts Center. This is another beautiful sculpture by Robin, and I think a lot of people in this area are familiar with her work—but if not, come and check it out.
Kellams: And some of the works are for sale, depending on whether the artist wants to?
Thompson: Yes, a lot of the work is for sale.
DeBari: It’s a great time to collect from local artists. And we’ll be open all the way up to December, which—if you’re looking for a Christmas present for somebody that’s unique—it’s a great opportunity. Come by and support a local artist.
Kellams: Thank you both for coming in.
Thompson: Thank you, Kyle.
Kellams: Kathy Thompson is curator for the fifth annual Our Art, Our Region, Our Time exhibition at the Alexander Gallery at the Porter Art Warehouse in downtown Fayetteville. Tom DeBari is director of visual arts and facilities at Walton Arts Center, the host for the exhibition.
The show opens Oct. 29. Hours for the new gallery are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
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