Both amateurs and seasoned artists will have multiple opportunities to try their hand at some art workshops in the coming weeks as part of Arts & The Park.
There will be five workshops, covering a variety of subjects. Up first is a photography workshop at noon Sunday that will teach participants how to take photos in the style of photographer Mike Disfarmer.
A two-day coiled basket weaving workshop will be held Monday, May 2, and Tuesday, May 3, at the Garland County Library taught by fiber artist Donna Dunnahoe.
"Donna Dunnahoe has been so involved with the arts community for years, so she has quite a reputation for her beautiful baskets," Mary Zunick, executive director of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance, said.
"The coiled workshop, instead of weaving, it's coiling, so the coils are attached together to create the basket instead of a more traditional, people think of a woven basket," she said.
The other May 2 workshop is a virtual cooking class taught via Zoom by the Vault's chef Andrew Disney, the third such cooking workshop Arts & The Park has offered, with a different chef every year.
"That one's exciting, I think, because people can participate in it with their friends from the comfort of their own home. In their kitchen they cook along with chef Andrew and will, when they finish, they'll be able to sit down and enjoy an amazing meal with their friends and family who are gathered there with them," Zunick said.
"Everyone loves The Vault. We love to go there and enjoy his culinary creations, but this way people will have an opportunity to cook along with him. I mean, that's not something that we get here in Hot Springs. We can certainly enjoy our chefs, but to actually have a cooking class with them is kind of unique," she said.
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On May 5, a resin workshop will be held at Emergent Arts, using wildflowers to create jewelry, Zunick said.
"Beautiful earrings, so anybody who signs up for that one, they'll walk away with some nice jewelry to go along with it," she said.
"It's a resin workshop but they use wildflowers, and through all the workshops that are planned during Arts & The Park, whether the photography workshop, the coiled baskets, the wildflowers and the cuisine that will be selected for the culinary workshop, it all kind of goes back to our theme this year which is Creative Roots," Zunick said.
"So drawing inspiration from the artwork that's created from our culture, from our history, from our ancestry -- so if you think back, people used what was around them and so wildflowers would have certainly been a part of the inspiration for our ancestors in creating artwork and so that's where the theme for this workshop came from, was to use what's around us," she said.
The final workshop is set for Saturday, May 7, involving watercolors taught by artists June Lamoureux and Suz L. Kriesant. Zunick noted they are "both very popular names or popular artists" in the Hot Springs area.
"They'll be doing that at Whittington Gallery and for all these workshops, all that's taking place during Arts & The Park, you know, we want to celebrate our local artists, but these workshops provide enrichment and educational opportunities for people interested in improving their skill level or learning about a different type of artwork," she said.
"Our local artists who may be painters will want to come and do coiled baskets, or so just an opportunity for them to take part in that without ever leaving Hot Springs, as well as giving people who may be novices an opportunity to learn more about photography or about watercolors."
No prior knowledge of any of these art forms is required, Zunick said. "Of course, if you have a little bit of background or experience with some of them, you know, that's great, you might learn a little bit more from it, but certainly we welcome people of all skill levels and we really try to make the workshops accessible."
There are scholarships available for the wildflower workshop at Emergent Arts "for people who would like to participate but their budgets a little tighter," she said, noting the most expensive workshop is $50.