June Live@5 Launches Art Rocks: Summer Bash

Alice Aida Ayers showed young patrons Kyeson, McKensey and Jaxon her method for making stained glass. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
Alice Aida Ayers showed young patrons Kyeson, McKensey and Jaxon her method for making stained glass. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)

The Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in downtown Pine Bluff renewed its second annual Art Rocks: Summer Bash fundraising event Friday evening beginning with June's monthly Live@5 program.

Special guest musicians, the Port City Blues Society band, performed for the gathering on the Art Yard patio. In addition to the regular monthly 5-7 p.m. Live@5 music offering, Port City played an additional two-hour set lasting until 9. Over the four-hour span, the patio continued to fill with an eventual 60-plus music lovers.

Sponsors for the event include MK Distributors, Relyance Bank, Highland Pellets, Pine Bluff Heating & Air, and Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel. In addition to the usual complimentary refreshments provided by MK Distributors, Lucy Mae's Southern Foods truck was also on hand Friday and Saturday along with LaBrooke Turner's B's Sweet Treatz & Desirez. Lucy Mae's provided a variety of delicious hot sandwiches while B's Sweet offered handmade deliciousness in the form of cookies and cupcakes.

"This is our second year of Art Rocks: Summer Bash," said Arts and Science Center Communications and Development Coordinator Morgun Henson. "Last year was a great success. One of our main goals is to bring new faces into the building and that's exactly what we did last year. We're hoping to accomplish that again this year. ... We have a diverse range of artist demos this year. We're excited for patrons to see their work and view the process."

She shared how the only returning artist from last year is painter John Kushmaul. This year's Art Rocks event introduced patrons to macramé artist Amy Darragh; stained glass artist Alice Aida Ayers, who is wrapping up her ASC artist residency; and printmaker Dustyn Bork. Bork's display of various prints will be on exhibit in the ARTSpace on Main Loft Gallery through the month of June. He is beginning his artist residency with ASC.

"We accommodate them in one of our five on-site apartments, each one equipped with its own artist studio," Henson said in explaining the artist residency program. "While here, they create work, sometimes displayed on exhibit and sometimes not. They always do work within the community. During Aida's residency she provided instructional stained glass classes for children and adults. During his stay, Dustyn will also provide workshops in printmaking to kids and adults."

Bork's future workshops will be held in ARTSpace on Main on July 18 and 20 from 5:30 until 7 p.m. His classes will introduce participants to the methods and techniques of cut-and-print stenciling and the creation of multiple-copy artwork.

All three artists conducted demonstrations Friday with their projects bid on for auction over the course of the evening. Although not present, Little Rock artist Greta Kresse also had a pair of her paintings displayed that she donated for the auction. All the money raised from new memberships enlisted over the weekend and art auctions goes back into funding ongoing arts center projects. Annual ASC memberships are $35 with a special 10% discount off that price during Art Rocks: Summer Bash.

"Saturday is kid-oriented with tons of free activities for families and children of all ages," Henson said. "The day will include music, face painting, kid karaoke, chalk art and STEAM activities." STEAM is an ASC lab where participants share in projects related to science, technology, engineering, art and math.

"We are excited about having Port City Blues Society perform this evening," she said.

The group's soulful sounds contained an expansive collection of classic blues numbers including "The Blues is Alright," "Black Cadillac," "Black Cat Bone," "Seventh Son," "Walkin' Blues" and "Stagger Lee." In addition, they also performed original tunes including "McCoy Shuffle."

A staple on the Pine Bluff music scene, band members include: Lex Capraitalia on drums; Dave Sadler, Butch Scaife and Mark Morgan on guitars; Gene Cooper on keyboard; and Roscoe Willis on bass.

"This event is meant to raise money for our programs, but more than that we want to raise awareness of these two wonderful spaces, ARTSpace on Main and Art Works," Henson said.

The pair of repurposed vintage structures now contain two art galleries, five resident artist apartments and a black box theater as well as the Art Yard outdoor patio.

"This weekend is designed to show people what possibilities these spaces can be utilized for and make them aware of the variety of activities we offer," Henson said.

  photo  Dancer Shara Robinson tries out her new knees while dancing alongside Marqutus Williams during Friday's Live@5 event at the Arts and Science Center. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
 
 
  photo  Little Rock based macrame artist Amy Darragh demonstrated her craft for ASC patrons. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
 
 
  photo  Artist in residence Dustyn Bork demonstrated printmaking process for Tyler Dyer. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
 
 
  photo  Sixty-plus ASC patrons filled the ArtSpace on Main, Art Yard patio to enjoy Pine Bluff musicians, Port City Blues Society, on Friday evening. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
 
 

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