Arts & The Park welcomes large crowds on first day

The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton ART SHERPA: Cinnamon Cooney, also known as The Art Sherpa, paints kindness rocks with fans and festivalgoers Saturday in Hill Wheatley Plaza during Arts & The Park.
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton ART SHERPA: Cinnamon Cooney, also known as The Art Sherpa, paints kindness rocks with fans and festivalgoers Saturday in Hill Wheatley Plaza during Arts & The Park.

The annual Arts & The Park festival got off to a strong start on Saturday with large crowds and good weather, and events that included a Chalk Walk, a Hot Springs Renaissance Faire and celebrity artists.

The first Saturday and Sunday of the 10-day Arts & The Park festival includes a smaller event called Art Springs. The headliner for Art Springs was artist Cinnamon Cooney, also known as The Art Sherpa. On Saturday, Cooney interacted with fans while she was at her booth, joining attendees in painting kindness rocks. Her big event for the day was a paint-along demonstration.

Cooney and her husband, John, said that they have been visiting Hot Springs since 1994, so they were excited to get to come to the festival. John Cooney said they decided to approach this festival differently. Making a business decision, they decided not to bring any of their artwork or paintings to sell. Instead, they said they came here to interact with the community and build relationships.

"We don't have anything to sell," John Cooney said. He said they could either do a good job making money by trying to sell things in Hot Springs, or they could support the community. They decided to support the community.

Cinnamon Cooney is based out of Texas and has a YouTube channel with over a half-million subscribers. She said that they are looking to relocate, and they are seriously looking at Hot Springs as a candidate.

The Art Sherpa will host another session starting at 3 p.m. today.

In addition Cooney, other artists were showing off their talent at the event, including Chalk Walk, a chalk art competition where groups of students create a piece of chalk art in a square on a sidewalk. This year, 13 teams participated in the event. One of those teams consisted of Lakeside High School students Ella Suffren and Shayna Andrews.

The theme for Chalk Walk was literacy, so Suffren and Andrews created a picture of the Wicked Witch of the West. Suffren said they chose "The Wizard of Oz" because it is one of her favorite stories. They also knew that a lot of children would be in attendance, so they chose a story kids would recognize. Both agreed that the event was a lot of fun.

Another group consisted of Hot Springs World Class High School students Rachel Caldwell, Saraswati Hillis-Ericksen and Rachel Tyler. This group chose "Winnie the Pooh" as their subject. In their square, the three drew Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger, too.

This was Tyler's third year to participate. She said she keeps coming back every year because it is "really fun." It was Hillis-Ericksen's second year. She said that the event is fun because it allows the participants to be a part of the art community. After hearing both of them talk about the contest, Caldwell said it sounded fun. She also said that she had never done any chalk art before, and she thought it would be fun to try something new.

There were three Lakeside High School teams participating. Art teacher Shirley Tipton said that this was the third time she has brought students to the festival.

Tipton said she brings her students because of the connection it builds. She said that for some of her students, this is the first exposure to the art community in Hot Springs. This shows her students what all they can get involved in.

One of the judges was an artist who goes by the name Pepe Gaka. He said he loves the event -- this was his second year to attend -- and that he was impressed with some of the students' work. "It was pretty good, in fact," Gaka said. He said that participating in events like Chalk Walk are a better way for the youngsters to spend their day than just watching TV.

The girls who made the "Winnie the Pooh" piece took first place both in their age group and in the fan vote. The girls who made the Wicked Witch placed second in the fan vote. Second place in the grades 9 and up went to a group from New Horizons ALE with a "The Tale of Despereaux" piece. Third place went to a team from HSHS with a "The Little Mermaid" piece.

In the grades 7 and 8 group, first place went to team Woodall with their piece titled "Every Book Has Its Own Story." This one featured a dragon. Second place went to a team from Lakeside for their "Harry Potter" inspired piece. For the youngest group, grades 4-6, first place went to a piece inspired by "Curious George," second place went to a piece called "Beekle," and third went to a piece called "You Don't Want a Unicorn for a Pet." All three of the teams in this category were from Langston Magnet School. Photos of all the winners can be found on the HSACA Facebook page.

New to the festival this year was The Hot Springs Renaissance Faire. Travis Gates, the owner of the fair, said that they were glad to be invited to the festival, as he said their mission is educate through the arts.

Joining Gates were about 20 performers ranging from a queen to fairies to a mermaid. Queen Elizabeth, played by Margaret Riviera, said that the festival is a great thing. "Any avenue that allows artists to show off is great," Riviera said.

The fair is new, and the first Renaissance Faire is planned for Nov. 2 and 3 at the Garland County Fairgrounds.

One person who was a fan of the fair was The Art Sherpa. She proudly said that her son had been knighted. Pointing at the mermaid, Cooney said, "I'm enjoying a mermaid ... loving (Hot Springs) more and more every second."

Two hours into the festival, John Gilbert with the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance said that the festival was going well in terms of attendance. He was standing at one of the entrances, and he was counting the number of people who had entered. He had counted over 1,500 so far. Desiree Overton, who was at a different entrance, had counted over 300 visitors.

Mary Zunick, executive director of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance, said they were happy with the amount of people who had showed up.

Local on 04/28/2019

Upcoming Events