BENTONVILLE -- The first conference in the new Culinary Summit Series will focus on nutrition and the healing power of food.
Kalene Griffith, Visit Bentonville president and CEO, gave an update on the new series to the Advertising and Promotions Commission on Thursday.
Commissioners approved last year earmarking $28,000 for a multi-day culinary summit in this year's budget.
"We're a culinary scene. We're being talked about across the United States as a culinary destination," Griffith said. "How we can do that is continue to create events that enhance the awareness of our culinary scene. I think the culinary summit series is a great way to do that."
The conference will be Aug. 17-18 at Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food, according to meeting documents. There are possible events for Aug. 19.
There will be a combination of lectures and hands-on culinary instruction geared to educators and medical and healthcare professionals.
A professor from Tulane University's Health Science Center will be the speaker. Evening activities are being planned at Amazeum and possibly Record, Visit Bentonville officials said.
All of the details aren't finalized yet, such as what aspects Visit Bentonville will help pay for and how much it will cost, Griffith said.
Commission Lee Culpepper mentioned the event could be of appealing to a broader audience.
"If part of this is more open to the public, you'd find a lot of people who'd be interested," he said.
Griffith said spots will be limited because of space at Brightwater but that it won't likely be a private event.
An information sheet about the event notes registration is $125.
The commission also approved spending $14,000 to buy the public art piece The Monarch and the Dandelion by Amanda Willshire.
Visit Bentonville has $70,000 allotted for public art in this year's budget.
The piece includes five dandelion-shaped sculptures made of steel and bike wheels. They will range between seven and 10 feet tall, according to meeting documents. A giant monarch butterfly make of steel, bike cogs and automotive brake lights and turn signals will sit on one of the dandelions.
The installation will cover a 18-foot-by-12-foot space in Orchards Park along John DeShields Boulevard.
Griffith said she expects the art to installed this summer.
Willshire was also created Always a Pupil -- two giant eyes made of steel, salvaged metals, bottle caps and bike parts -- which is on display at the mouth of a pedestrian tunnel on the North Walton Boulevard Trail.
NW News on 04/28/2017