NOTHING AMISS ON DICKSON Arts Collective Expands Offerings And Locations

By Kevin Kinder

Posted: November 6, 2009 at 7:16 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Among the many things that the Art Amiss show is, certainly one of the most prominent ones is busy.

The biannual art show, which comes to Northwest Arkansas for the 11th time on Wednesday, is a combination of art, theater, videography, music, fashion and much more.

It’s also growing in scope, in size and in opportunities. ArtAmiss started and continues as a collective of underrepresented artists who are either living in Arkansas or native to the state.

The artistic community that it has nurtured - accessible at artamiss.org - continues to increase in size, and theorganization’s president, Haley Duke, says that the word is spreading.

“It’s getting to the point where people are coming to us,” she says.

She points to the fashion element of the show, which was in jeopardy after the former fashioncoordinator for Art Amiss left the organization. As the organizational team contemplated what to do, someone called and expressed interest in investing time in the fashion elements of the show. A new partnership was born.

At Wednesday’s event, Mayapple Salon will present a fashion show inspired by the 1970s. All of the models are members of the NWA Rollergirls roller derby team, Duke says.

Because of the growth of the Art Amiss exhibits, the show will for the first time expand past the borders of its usual home at the Dickson Theater in Fayetteville.

Nearby venues Nightbird Books and Hammontree’s Gourmet will also host events. At Nightbird Books, the literature elements of Art Amiss will take over part of the venue with poetry readings. Inside Hammontree’s, the video portion of the evening will be shown. Both venues will remain open until 11 p.m. as they cater to the Art Amiss crowds.

Other new events include a chamber music concert.

The first 250 participants to arrive will receive a chapbook of the literary submissions and also a compact disc featuring local music

They will also have the opportunity to eat a cake created by David Lewis of Brickhouse Kitchen. In celebration of Art Amiss’ 11th installment, he will make 11 cakes, each with 11 layers.

Each of the 11 layers will be a different flavor.

Because Art Amiss is so kitschyand diverse, it makes it one of Arkansas’ most unusual art events, says participating artist and Fayetteville resident Kyle Asfahl.

“I don’t know that anyone has a show that represents such a diverse set of artists in Arkansas,” he says.

In a competitive art climate, Art Amiss, with a mission of helping aspiring artists, is particularly important, Asfahl says.

“It’s tremendously competitive.

I could say that Art Amiss has helped me quite a bit. I’ve been starting to get accepted into other galleries just this year,” he says.

This will be the second time that one of his works will be shown in an Art Amiss event, and his curiosity about the show is high.

Only the organizers know exactly what will be sharing the walls with Asfahl and the other participating artists.

“It’s really exciting. You don’t know who you are going to be exhibiting with,” he says.

Entertainment, Pages 10 on 11/06/2009

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