One of the ways Arts & The Park will look different during the "year of the pandemic" will be some Studio Tours going virtual, which may actually assist in wider artist recognition, Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance Executive Director Mary Zunick said Wednesday.
Studio Tours, sponsored by Riser Auto, is a "favorite" of those who attend Arts & The Park each year, a news release said.
"During Studio Tours local artists open up their private studios, allowing the public a rare glance inside their creative spaces," it said.
This year, in order to ensure the safety of the public as well as the artists, virtual tours will be hosted on the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance's website at http://www.HotSpringsArts.org. Studio contact information will also be available on the website for those wanting to connect with the artists.
"For the last several weeks, we've had someone out visiting the studios, interviewing the artists and trying to give everybody the same feel as if they were on the studio tour themselves," Zunick said. "There have been some important things we have learned with having to rethink our arts festival this year," and going virtual is "certainly one of them. Having the video will certainly expand the reach of who can visit the studio."
Lori Arnold, HSACA board member and Studio Tour Committee chair, said in the release that, as an artist herself, doing virtual Studio Tours is "such a great opportunity" for area artists to share their creative space with the public.
"The arts community has suffered because of COVID-19, but these virtual Studio Tours allow artists to connect with the public, near and far, even people who are not able personally to visit studios to learn about many of the artists who call Hot Springs home," Arnold said. "We are grateful for the Arkansas Arts Council grant and generous sponsorship of Riser Auto, which funded the videos that will be shared on the www.HotSpringsArts.org website even long after Arts & the Park 2020 is over."
While most Studio Tours will be held virtually, the following will open for on-site tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 3:
⢠Fox Pass Pottery, 379 Fox Pass Cut Off.
⢠Whittington Studios, 307 Whittington Ave.
⢠Dryden Pottery, 341 Whittington Ave.
⢠Barbara Cade Studio, 262 Hideaway Hills Drive.
⢠Don Watson Studio Gallery, 439 Gilmer Road, in Glenwood.
⢠Baker's Metal, 326 Highway 70, in Glenwood, which will also be open on Sunday, Oct. 4.
Zunick said all on-site attendees will be asked to mask and social distance, and hand sanitizer will be available.
Arts & The Park, which begins Friday and runs through Oct. 4, is being held in the fall instead of the spring due to the pandemic and will be "scaled back quite a bit" from the normal 60-80 events, Zunick said.
A socially distant "Chalk Walk" is currently going on for both children and adults to submit sidewalk chalk art created anywhere from personal driveways to school parking lots.
An outdoor art exhibit will also be placed along the Hot Springs Greenway Trail.
"We have 10 different pieces and the theme is 'Art Moves Hot Springs;' so the theme of the exhibit is social, physical movement, and movement in nature," Zunick said. "'Art Moves Hot Springs' will be up throughout the rest of the year. ... We did it outside in nature to encourage people to get out in nature, and people on the Greenway Trail -- that's a very widely used trail -- will have an opportunity to view art."
Other events include a virtual dance performance by Hot Springs High School, a cooking class on Monday via Zoom and Gallery Walk downtown.
"We're just trying to reach out and be safe, obviously, like with the virtual studio tours and the outdoor art exhibits, to find ways that people can still be involved in our Hot Springs arts community, and to celebrate our artists and be safe," Zunick said. "We have a thriving arts community in Hot Springs, and we have for decades, so we just wanted to find a little bit different way, or some creative ways to still celebrate our art.
"Artists, like so many other small businesses that make up the creative economies, have been hit so hard by COVID and people aren't thinking about buying artwork, or so many people are staying home and logging on and ordering something online. Well, we want to highlight the small art businesses we have in Hot Springs."
