Artists show their wares at Museum School Sale

Not all of the art at the Arkansas Arts Center ends up on walls and in display cases. Behind the scenes, in studio spaces, students and teachers spend creative hours sketching, painting, molding and carving in the Arkansas Arts Center Museum School.

"A lot of people don't know we even have a studio school here," says the school's manager, AnDi Tompkins.

But that can be corrected at the annual Museum School Sale, held Friday and Saturday at the State Fairgrounds' Hall of Industry.

There, 98 faculty members and students will display and sell their work, all of which originated at the Museum School studio.

"I think it's a really great way to support the artists in your community, or just become aware of artists in your community," says Rana Edgar, the museum's director of education.

Tompkins says, "It's a great opportunity to showcase the type of work that we make and the different instructors that we have and just the skill level that's going on at our school."

The sale draws a big crowd, usually about 2,000 visitors over the weekend. Many of those will be repeat visitors who have developed friendships with the artists and are on the lookout every year to add more pieces to their collections.

It all starts with the Member Preview Party on Friday night. It's not open to the general public, but Arts Center memberships will be available for those who can't resist the chance to get a jump on everyone else when it comes to buying local art.

This year, in addition to the snacks and drinks, there will also be a performance by students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs.

The sale opens to the general public Saturday.

For the first time in several years, a clay instructor will do live demonstrations of hand-building techniques on both days.

Tompkins says, "Not only will she be doing demos, but she'll allow people that want to try it to come and do that too while they're there."

In addition to the handmade art, there will also be aprons, art buttons and books for sale and the Museum Shop will have a little satellite shop open to sell T-shirts and other Arts Center memorabilia.

"We have it all," promises Edgar, who points out that with all that variety, it's possible to knock quite a few people off the Christmas shopping list. There will even be gift-wrapping stations available.

And while many vendors will accept cash, checks and credit cards, some vendors may not have the ability to accept credit cards. There will be an ATM on site, but having cash ready is a good plan.

"Price points are set to be affordable for all budgets," Tompkins says.

Parents shouldn't be hesitant about bringing their children along either.

"I hope they come!" Tompkins says.

While Friday night is more adult-centric, the sale is, Edgar says, "definitely family friendly."

There's plenty of room to walk around and maneuver strollers and, as long as parents and little ones are careful, there should be no problems.

"We don't discourage kids from coming," Tompkins says. "We want to expose them to art early in life."

Anyone who feels inspired by what they see is welcome to sign up for classes themselves. In fact, there will be drawings every hour for Museum School tuition discounts and family memberships.

"It's just a really fun event," Tompkins says. "Everybody at the Arts Center gets involved, all the staff. It's just a really great way to promote the school and support the artists."

Weekend on 11/16/2017