View of the Delta

Delta Visual Arts Show celebrates eighth year

Board members for the Delta Visual Art Show pose with some of the donated art from artists who will attend the event. In the front row, kneeling, from left, are Thompson Murray, Jimmy Walker, Rebecca Pearrow and Sara Michael. Standing are Lindsey McClellan, front left by the easel; first full row, from left, Debra Jackson, Lindley Pettie, Kristen Weatherford, Jon Chadwell, Calli Chadwell, and Lee Scoggins; second row, Sharla Chalfant, Tonia Hutchinson, Robert Summers, Daniel Larson, Jeff Phillips, Tara Salinas and Tonya Ryals; and third row, Ward Massey, Frank Plegge, David Stewart and Irina Reynolds.
Board members for the Delta Visual Art Show pose with some of the donated art from artists who will attend the event. In the front row, kneeling, from left, are Thompson Murray, Jimmy Walker, Rebecca Pearrow and Sara Michael. Standing are Lindsey McClellan, front left by the easel; first full row, from left, Debra Jackson, Lindley Pettie, Kristen Weatherford, Jon Chadwell, Calli Chadwell, and Lee Scoggins; second row, Sharla Chalfant, Tonia Hutchinson, Robert Summers, Daniel Larson, Jeff Phillips, Tara Salinas and Tonya Ryals; and third row, Ward Massey, Frank Plegge, David Stewart and Irina Reynolds.

Life in the Delta has provided inspiration for artists for years, and a popular art show highlighting these artists’ work is coming up later this month.

The eighth annual Delta Visual Arts Show will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 27 in several locations in downtown Newport.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Newport Economic Development Commission, said the arts show started out in 2009 as a means to an end for establishing an arts center. Chadwell said a class from the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock helped come up with the idea for an arts show in the city.

“Our long-range goal has been to have an arts center here,” he said. “When we first started, the Clinton School group told us we needed to have a track

record.”

Since 2009, the show has grown tremendously, Chadwell said. In its first year, 17 artists showed their work, and 185 people attended the show.

“We were tickled,” Chadwell said.

This year, 181 artists from three states and 61 Arkansas communities will be a part of the show, reflecting the excitement that has made the show a success for nearly a decade.

“I’ve seen everything from a 7-year-old who sold her first painting at the show to the 82-year-old who came and gave it a shot and sold half of her stuff,” Chadwell said. “That part is real rewarding. … It’s a lot of fun, a lot of interaction.”

One reason artists love the Delta Arts Show is its affordability, Chadwell said.

“We keep the show completely free to the artists,” he said. Chadwell said some artists donate work, which is auctioned in October. “All of that money goes to fund next year’s show.”

Additional funding for this year’s show came from a Collaborative Projects Support Grant through the Arkansas Arts Council, and funding for advertising comes from the Ozark Gateway Tourist Council.

The show will also have workshops — four for children and six or seven for adults — that Chadwell said add depth and enthusiasm to the show.

The original intent of the arts show — to eventually establish an arts center in Newport — has not fallen to the wayside. Chadwell said there are plans to establish a space for artists who are just starting out.

“It’s going to be more like an incubator. We’ve got a grant for equipment, and we’re working on a space downtown so we can have studios for artists to get started,” he said. “People … can come in and use the equipment until they get up and started.”

The show will take place in multiple locations, including the Newport Business Resource Center and the old post office on Hazel Street; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Third Street; the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall on Laurel Street; the Brick Terrace Garden, the John Minor Building and the Iron Mountain Tran Depot on Front Street; the First Christian Church Fellowship Hall, the Seeds of Faith Church and the W.A. Billingsley Library on Walnut Street; and in two large heavy-duty tents on Hazel and Walnut streets.

Artists from the Three Rivers Edition coverage area participating in the Delta Visual Arts Show include Deborah Davidson of Ash Flat; Cindy Koplen and Kevin Koplen, both of Austin; Rachelle Barro of Bald Knob; Beverly Altman, Dustyn Bork, Sabina Burnett, Cary Dahl, Brenda Lawrence, the Student Art League at Lyon College, Peggy Ann Meitzen, Leia Parks, Ron and Ronda Petx, and David Timko, all of Batesville; Carla Carlton of Beebe; Janet Foster, Marty Smith and Zina Underwood, all of Cabot; Elizabeth Fern and Bobbie Hanson, both of Cherokee Village; Kevin Bell and Teresa Smith, both of El Paso; Delana Epperson and Linda Fergerson, both of Jacksonport; Susie Johnson of Judsonia; Janet

Loftis, Tammey Ring and Iana

Sinkutch, all of Heber Springs; Richard Knapp, and Liz and Lewis Lloyd, all of Mountain View; Judy Tubbs of Newark; Julia Brand, Zack Connelly, Adralyn Elliott, Debra Jackson, Katie Lewis, Madeline Lewis, Cheryl Mauldin, Nicole Fite, John Minor Sr., Jessica Scoggins, Donald Smith Jr., Barbara Smock, Haley Watson and Ginger Willis, all of Newport; Teresa Sanders of Pleasant Plains; and Sandy Arnault, Brian Hickey, Donna Malone, Cindy Ruddell and Jeanette Selvidge, all of Searcy.

Information about the Delta Visual Arts Show can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/events/1564546150472582.

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansas

online.com.

Upcoming Events