Hot Springs celebrates Art Month with shows, activities

— Preparations were in full swing in downtown Hot Springs during the last days of February as arts organizations worked out details for a variety of events slated during March.

Mayor Ruth Carney and the Hot Springs Board of Directors have designated March as Fine Arts Month in the city.

At Low Key Arts, Michael Shaeffer worked on paintings to be auctioned off at the upcoming Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival, while just down the road at the Malco Theatre, Tim McCoy, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s art and social media director, hung an exhibition of posters from previous festivals.

More than 200 activities will be held throughout the month, celebrating a variety of arts, such as painting, sculpture, music, variety shows, poetry, magic shows, cooking, film, ballroom dancing and origami. More than 70 free events have been planned for adults and children, with other activities that will cost as little as $5, according to a press release.

“The arts have been here a long, long time,” said Malinda Herr-Chambliss, executive director of the film institute. “For me, Hot Springs is the ‘City of the Arts’ — the visual and performing arts. I think it’s wonderful that a whole month was set aside, and the city acknowledged all of the visual and performing arts.”

In addition to the retrospective exhibition, the film institute will show several arts-related documentaries throughout the month, beginning with Desert of Forbidden Art and POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, which was shown on Saturday, March 12. Vincent: A Life in Color will shown Saturday.

Other events include performances at the Pocket Theatre, poetry readings at the Poet’s Loft, live music at the Ohio Club and ballroom dancing at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.

Most of the events will occur at downtown venues, but several will take place on the outskirts of town at the Mid-America Science Museum, Garvan Woodland Gardens, Fox Pass Pottery and individual artist studios.

“It just has grown like crazy,” said Carole Katchen, chairwoman of the Arts Advisory Committee, who spearheaded the month-long arts celebration. “I never imagined there would be this many things going on in one month in Hot Springs, and a lot of them are happening specifically for the arts month.”

Other events, such as The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival, were already established as March events, but Shea Childs, who founded the music festival with her husband, Bill Solleder, hopes the new designation will bring in some new faces.

“I think that if you are living out by the lake and rarely make it downtown, there’s a good chance you don’t know about all the

wonderful, world-class cultural events our little town can boast about,” said Childs, a Hot Springs native. “I hope that this recognition from the city will spark some interest in the locals who have yet to venture out for the festival.”

Childs added that she thinks a fine-arts month is a great way to recognize the efforts of the arts community and draw more people to town. And this month, she said, is a perfect time for it.

“March in Arkansas is gorgeous. Spring break has a lot of out-of-towners walking our streets. I think March is the perfect time to give applause to the fine arts.”

According to Katchen, March was selected for a number of reasons, including the spring-breakers.

“It’s just before the big spring season here,” she said. “The biggest races at Oaklawn [Park] begin in April, and April is the start of the season for all kinds of fundraising events, so March is usually a little bit slower in town, and also, March is a great month for families going on vacation because it’s spring break.”

Also the weather is usually nice, which will allow for several outdoor events.

“We’ve got some artists who are going to be painting on the veranda of the Arlington every weekend of the month, especially for Fine Arts Month, so that people who are in town or coming to town will find it easy to interact with the arts,” Katchen said.

Musicians will perform on the streets, in front of the Fine Arts Center and Artists Workshop Gallery and in Adair Park.

As she has organized the month-long celebration, Katchen has been met with support from the city, as well as from the artists.

“The city has been fabulous,” she said. “The [Hot Springs] Convention and Visitors Bureau is working with us, and it’s just been a really exciting thing. We’ve gotten tremendous cooperation from the visual artists, the musicians, just everyone in town.”

Several activities require advance reservations. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.cityhs.net and click on the “March is Hot Springs Fine Arts Month” link.

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