ART

River Market sculpture show features 50 artists

My Heart is in Your Hands by Jane DeDecker
My Heart is in Your Hands by Jane DeDecker

Whimsical and profound. Simple and confounding. A wide variety of sculptures has made a home in downtown Little Rock's Riverfront Park, and this weekend, it is going to have some new neighbors.

This is the ninth year for the Sculpture at the River Market Show & Sale, a juried show in which 50 artists from Arkansas and all across the country are invited to bring their work for perusal and purchase.

Sculpture at the River Market

Preview party, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday; Show & Sale, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, River Market Pavilions, Little Rock

Preview party: $100

(501) 539-0913

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As Dr. Dean Kumpuris, city director and founder of Sculpture at the River Market, says, "It's a great opportunity even if you don't want to buy something. You see Arkansas and nationally known artists, see great pieces of work, enjoy the park, go to the Vogel Schwartz [Sculpture] Garden."

It all starts with the preview party at 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday with music, refreshments and a chance to get first peek at the art. Then, on Saturday and Sunday the show is open to the public.

With 50 artists, each bringing at least 10 pieces of sculpture, there will be hundreds of works in a wide variety of styles, media and prices in the River Market Pavilions and Riverfront Park.

For those who want to learn a bit more about the more permanent public art, there will be docent tours of the Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Riverfront Park at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, there will be coffee at 9:30 a.m. and a food truck festival from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Kumpuris points out that Little Rock isn't large or prominent enough to attract high-quality artists on its own. So, in 2011 they instituted the Public Art Monument Sculpture Commission Competition. Artists taking part in the event are invited to submit proposals for a public art piece that will be installed somewhere in the city. Last year's winner will be installed Tuesday at Chenal Parkway and Chenal Valley Drive. The 2016 piece is destined for Central High School, where it will be installed in 2017 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the desegregation crisis.

This year's proposals include Strength to Endure by Denny Haskew, based on a famous photograph; the steel For the Love of Books by Kevin Robb, and the allegorical United by Clay Enoch.

Normally the prize is $60,000 but, Kumpuris says, with the piece going to Central High, they were able to raise $80,000.

This year, 28 artists entered the contest. Those have been narrowed down to seven and preview guests will vote to select the top three.

"People who come to the party not only get to see the art, they get to participate in looking at the finalists," Kumpuris says.

The winner will be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Kumpuris explains that money raised from the event is returned to the project to buy more sculptures for Little Rock: "We buy it and we actually give it to the city. The city right now owns about $3 million worth of art."

Much of that is in the Schwartz Sculpture Garden, where people can stroll through and admire the wide range of pieces. But the sculpture is starting to spread.

Kumpuris says, "We're making every attempt to start moving out into the city so that the whole city benefits from this. It just changes the whole character of the area. It makes it look like people care about their city and what's going on. That's the beauty of it."

He says whether visitors want to attend the preview party and buy pieces or just stroll through on one of the free days, "I think at the very least, it gives you the opportunity to learn about sculpture and different types of art and first-class artists. A nine-year period to have that much money going into public art is a phenomenal thing."

Weekend on 04/21/2016

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