ENTERTAINMENT NOTES: Reception to honor potter as Living Treasure

James "Kimbo" Dryden is the 2022 Arkansas Living Treasure. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
James "Kimbo" Dryden is the 2022 Arkansas Living Treasure. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)


Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:

Honoring a 'treasure'

The Arkansas Arts Council will honor its 2022 Arkansas Living Treasure, Hot Springs potter James "Kimbo" Dryden, during a reception, 2-4 p.m. May 20 at the Hot Springs Convention Center, 134 Convention Blvd., Hot Springs. Admission is free.

"Kimbo Dryden is a compelling addition to our Living Treasure program," says Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, in an April news release announcing the selection. "His lifelong passion, dedication and mastery of pottery has not only added to his family's heritage, but to the heritage of Arkansas."

The Living Treasure program each year recognizes an Arkansan "who excels in the creation of a traditional craft or folk art and who preserves and advances their craft through community outreach and teaching others," according to the news release. An independent panel of judges made the selection.

More information about the award is available by calling (501) 324-9348 or at the Arkansas Arts Council website, arkansasarts.org. More information about Dryden is available by visiting the Arkansas Arts Council's blog page, tinyurl.com/2tjwhy26.

Small Works

The Arkansas Art Council's "Small Works on Paper" exhibition, showcasing 2D artwork no larger than 18 by 24 inches and by Arkansas artists, is on display through May 31 at the River Valley Arts Center, 1001 E. B St., Russellville, with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. Wednesday. Admission to the center and the reception are free. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday- Friday. Call (479) 968-2452 or visit rivervalleyartscenter.org.

Recovery via arts

Phillips County is one of nine communities participating in a national initiative to address covid-19 recovery and community wellness through the arts, according to a news release from the National League of Cities and the One Nation One Project. Other communities creatively responding to the prompt "There's No Place Like Home": Chicago; Gainesville, Fla.; Utica, Miss.; Winston-Salem, N.C., in partnership with Forsyth County; Providence, R.I.; Rhinelander, Wis.; Harlan County, Ky.; and Edinburg, Texas.

Plural mural

The Arkansas Arts Council has teamed up with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and nonprofit Cutwell 4 Kids to create a mural in downtown Little Rock as part of a free, virtual workshop. Cutwell 4 Kids founder Anthony Tidwell will lead a free, virtual "how to make a mural" workshop, 10 a.m.-noon June 6, covering equipment, design and application. Attendees will submit their designs to the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, which is donating space at Eighth and Main streets for a community-built mural. Tidwell will also lead and provide hands-on teaching for volunteers in transferring the chosen design during a community paint day, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 11. Call (501) 324-9348 or email scarlet.sims@arkansas.gov.

Bard partnership

A reconstituted Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, the state's only professional Shakespeare company, returns after a two-year, covid-caused hiatus to stage William Shakespeare's comedy "Much Ado About Nothing," 7:30 p.m. June 23-24 and June 30 and July 1 and 2 p.m. June 25 in the Bridges Larson Theatre, Snow Fine Arts Center, at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Tickets are $20; visit tinyurl.com/4mzf3vhk.

The summer festival, which debuted in 2007 but was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, is now partnering with the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville "to capitalize on the phenomenal talent and existing resources within the state by taking advantage of the [UA's] graduate performance and design students as well as talented faculty," according to a news release. "While the two-year hiatus has been a huge disappointment, it has also given us a chance to reflect, reimagine and build new connections," Shauna Meador, the theater's executive managing producer, says in the release.

The play will be onstage June 16-18 at the Global Campus Theatre at the university in Fayetteville. Curtain times and ticket information will eventually be posted at uarkartstickets.com.

Sean Clancy contributed to this roundup.


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