The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance will host its annual "Hot Seats in Hot Springs" fundraiser in April in partnership with Mid-America Science Musem, offering 15 chairs painted by jury-selected artists up for auction.
"I'm really excited about this partnership," said Mary Zunick, executive director of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance. The auction will take place in the museum's new Hall of Wonder.
"Diane LaFollette (the museum's executive director) does such a great job at Mid-America, and she and I have talked about having, you know, more arts events out there. That space is a beautiful space and it's just perfect for this event. So it will be large, plenty of room for 15 Adirondack chairs," Zunick said.
Since the museum's new exhibit hall opened in 2020, it has hosted two traveling exhibits and an exhibition featuring the artwork of international artist Longhua Xu and his grandson, Han Xu.
Zunick said they are "just finding another use for" the exhibit hall by holding the fundraiser there.
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"We were looking for a space for the event, and Diane and I have talked about this before, but we have a wonderful committee that's working on the Adirondack chair project," she said. "This was one of the ones, that when we looked at everything available, this was the best for this event."
According to a news release, the artists who individually painted the Arkansas Cypress Adirondack chairs are all "Arkansas based, ranging from well-known, local artists, to incredibly talented professional artists, new to the Hot Springs art scene, and some locals whose day jobs may not be art-related but their talents would suggest otherwise." The construction of the chairs was funded by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Heritage.
The 15 chairs being auctioned "were beautiful with no paint on them, even just the Adirondack chairs made from the cypress, the artisan that made them did a beautiful job, so much so that there were some of us that helped unload them that were trying to shop even before they were up for auction," Zunick said.
The event, which will be held from 6-9 p.m. on April 23, will also debut the upcoming installation of HSACA's "Art Moves: Creative Roots" outdoor art exhibition, with an opportunity to purchase the works displayed along the Hot Springs Creek Greenway trail's 2021 "Art Moves: Griots" installation, according to the release. The pieces available for auction are "one-of-a-kind reproductions" of original art, printed onto 30-by-40-inch metal sheets.
"The pieces are not only unique, but also durable enough for outdoor display," it said.
"If they loved this year's 'Art Moves' exhibit that's still up along the Greenway Trail there just north of Hollywood, they can actually purchase one of those. Those will be sold off in a silent auction," Zunick said.
"It's all that you think of for a kickoff for an arts gala," she said.
"There'll be wonderful music, we'll have a live auction -- of course, the chairs will be auctioned off -- and some silent auction items and live auction items. We have a custom pair of roller-skates that been donated by Munro," she said.
Don Gooch, last year's arts ambassador and a longtime supporter of the arts, will be auctioning off a song composed and performed by him, "so that's something that you won't be able to get anywhere else," Zunick said.
The Alliance previously held an Adirondack chair fundraiser in 2005 and "it was such a huge success, people have been talking about it since then, so it's just kind of a revival of a project that was very popular at that time, and there's still some of those beautiful chairs out in the community," Zunick said.
"Just a few of the local artists that are participating, we have Miranda Brewer, we also have Diana Garrison and Roxy Rose, Debra Miller, those are just a few of the names of the artists," Zunick said, "Also a name very familiar here in Hot Springs, Perrion Hurd, the artist who just completed the Harriet Tubman mural, he's one of the artists that will be creating, and his chair is just incredible."
Davis Tillman and Maxwell Blade will serve as celebrity auctioneers for the event, she said, noting, "Both of those gentlemen made any space they are in a little bit more exciting, and so it will be a great live action."
Attendees can also tour the museum. Tickets are $100; early-bird tickets are available for $75.