Arts & The Park to offer wide range of workshops

The Sentinel-Record/File photo CHALK WALK: In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Samya Scaggs, a fourth-grader with Hot Springs Langston Magnet School, creates a chalk drawing of Dr. Suess during Art Springs, a free outdoor juried art festival and showcase held at Hill Wheatley Plaza as part of Arts & The Park. This year, Art Springs will take place April 27-28, the opening weekend of the 10-day Arts & The Park festival.
The Sentinel-Record/File photo CHALK WALK: In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Samya Scaggs, a fourth-grader with Hot Springs Langston Magnet School, creates a chalk drawing of Dr. Suess during Art Springs, a free outdoor juried art festival and showcase held at Hill Wheatley Plaza as part of Arts & The Park. This year, Art Springs will take place April 27-28, the opening weekend of the 10-day Arts & The Park festival.

Cinnamon Cooney, otherwise known as The Art Sherpa, will be among the guests at Arts & The Park later this month, hosting a two-day painting class on April 27 and 28, with the first session livestreamed on YouTube.

Donna Dunnahoe, the community program coordinator for the event, said Cooney chose her stage name because she sees herself less as a teacher and more of a guide that shows people how to express themselves through art.

Cooney currently has nearly 494,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Mary Zunick, executive director of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance, said that Cooney helps the average person experience art, which is one of the reasons that the Alliance offers Art Springs. Art Springs will take place April 27-28, the opening weekend of the 10-day Arts & The Park festival.

Art Springs is a free outdoor juried art festival and showcase, and Zunick said it allows families who might not ever visit an art gallery get to experience art and see artists working.

Around 100 people will be able to participate in the painting classes per day. The classes are free to attend, and supplies will be available to purchase. The classes will last from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on April 27 and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 28. From 2:45 until 4:45 p.m. on April 27, the class will be livestreamed to YouTube.

To register for the classes, visit https://www.hotspringsarts.com. The deadline to register is April 19.

Seven other workshops have been organized by Dunnahoe as part of the Arts & The Park festival and are split between visual arts workshops and literary workshops.

Artists who will be giving visual arts workshops include John P. Lasater IV, Craig R. Thomas, Laura Raborn and Byron Taylor.

Lasater is known for painting outdoor scenes. His plein-air paintings of nature have earned him a reputation of being one of the best in the genre, according to a news release for the two-day workshop. The first workshop, on April 29, will be held outdoors and the second, on April 30, will be at Emergent Arts. The cost of the workshop is $250.

Thomas is known for his 3D chalk art. During the event, he will create a 20-by-15 foot piece of chalk art. Thomas will also give a presentation, "Creating Public Murals & Street Art," which will also feature mural artist Giuseppe Percivati.

Raborn, a mixed media artist whose work is represented by Justus Fine Art Gallery in Hot Springs, will host a workshop called "Simple Stencils = Dynamo Designs." Dunnahoe said that this workshop is for both beginners and experienced artists. Raborn will show how to create stencils from everyday items, and she will help experienced people learn how to do more difficult layers. This workshop will be held at the Landmark Building on April 29, and costs $75.

Taylor will host a three-day workshop titled "Painting Oil Portraits." Zunick cautioned that the workshop is not for beginners. The cost is $175, and the workshop will also be held at the Landmark Building May 1-3.

Writers Tanja Wooten, Millie Gore and Vicky Edwards will host the literary workshops at the Garland County Library.

Wooten's workshop on May 4, "Illustrating for Comics and Graphic Novels," will look at writing and drawing comics. Dunnahoe said that she decided to get someone in this industry given the popularity of Spa-Con, a multigenre convention held in Hot Springs.

This will be the second year in a row that Gore has held a workshop at the event. Last year, she held one on writing characters for adults. This year, Gore will host a workshop showing how to write short stores for children on April 30.

The other workshop, hosted by Edwards, will look at writing memoirs. Edwards is the author of "Boxful of Nightmares: Terry Hobbs' Personal Memoirs on the West Memphis Three Murders." The workshop will be held on May 1.

In total, 85 different events are scheduled for the 10-day Arts & The Park festival.

Local on 04/15/2019

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