Creativity will run wild - and traffic-free - when the Thea Arts Festival turns downtown North Little Rock into one big, art-stuffed block party.
This is the third year for the Thea Foundation’s festival, and three blocks of Main Street will be closed to traffic so more than 30 area artists can have free rein, filling booths with paintings, pottery, photographs and other media for perusal and for purchase. They’ll also be there for discussion and to demonstrate their techniques, to give the artwork a more personal stamp.
“It’s a really great way to see a lot of Arkansas’ finest artists in one venue,” says Stacey Bowers, the Thea Foundation’s marketing manager. “They’re all accessible. You can talk to them and ask them questions about their work and get to know them. All the artists themselves are such a huge draw. They have such varied work and very, very beautiful.”
The event will include featured artist Emily Wood, chairman of the painting and drawing department at the Arkansas Arts Center Museum School, whose works will also be on display in the Thea Foundation Gallery.
Bowers says this year’s collection of artists will present more “wearable art” than previous years: “We have several jewelers who make really one-of-a-kind pieces with metalwork and natural objects like stone.”
If the multitude of artwork leaves creative fingers itching, there will be hands-on activities in printmaking, caricatures and paint-by-numbers for all ages.
The festival isn’t limited to visual arts. Performing artsg et a spotlight too. This year’s musicians lineup includes John Willis and the Misses from 10-11:30 a.m., The Funkanites from 12:15-1:45 p.m. and Lagniappe from 2: 30-4p.m. There will also be other performances, including one by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Orchestra Quartet.
The event may be child-friendly, but it’s by no means child-exclusive. There will be plenty for adults to do and see.
Part of the purpose of the festival is to engage the entire family in developing an interest in all types of art.
“If you’re a parent and you’re interested in art, this is an event for you,” Bowers says. “You can keep your kids entertained and really encourage them to love the arts too and get involved with it.”
The festival is a way to draw attention not just to area artists, but also to the Thea Foundation, an organization that works to encourage art programs and activities in schools statewide. Founded by Paul and Linda Theopoulos in 2001 in memory of their daughter Thea, the foundation promotes the arts as a way to build students’ confidence and also stimulate their interest and improve their performance in other school subjects.
Thea Arts Festival
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Main Street, downtown North Little Rock (501) 379-9512 theaartsfestival.org
Weekend, Pages 34 on 04/24/2014