Walkin' The Walk

Artists open studios, paint (and crochet) the town red

Gina Gallina displays her unusual artform for the May Festival of the Arts in Eureka Springs.
Gina Gallina displays her unusual artform for the May Festival of the Arts in Eureka Springs.

As sure as April showers bring May flowers, the streets and parks of Eureka Springs blossom during the May Festival of the Arts. Two new events and one 26-year tradition are scheduled this weekend.

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Courtesy Photo

Mary Springer, Zeek Taylor and Eleanor Lux, friends who met in Memphis, Tenn., started the White Street Walk 26 years ago in Eureka Springs. This year’s edition is tonight.

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Courtesy Photo

Eureka Springs artist John Willer paints “en plein air.” The first Eureka Springs Plein Air Festival starts Sunday.

White Street Walk

"We were three people that just happened to live in the same town and on the same street," Zeek Taylor remembers. "But we all had roots in Memphis, just by accident. It drew us together."

"I was sitting around, looking at all these studios on White Street," Eleanor Lux adds. "I knew Mary [Springer] and Zeek from Memphis, so I called them and said, 'What would you think if we just open up the street for one night?'"

Those three invited a few "artist friends" to join the group in opening their homes and studios for a single evening, Taylor picks up the story. The first event lasted for only two hours, but it quickly evolved into something much bigger.

Now in its 26th year, the White Street Walk, happening from 4 to 10 p.m. today, will include its founders -- a watercolorist, a weaver and a sculptor -- plus more than 40 guest artists -- showing weaving, watercolors, jewelry, oils, pottery, stained glass and more -- who squeeze into every possible nook and cranny along the Eureka Springs avenue.

"The event draws visitors to White Street who delight in experiencing a 'hidden' Eureka Springs where they can visit with artists in their private spaces," Taylor says. "Visitors get a sense of neighborhood in an area of town that is primarily residential."

In Taylor's case, that means welcoming those guests as he would friends. He began offering food the first year of the White Street Walk.

"I'm just a good ol' Southern boy, and I always think if you have guests in your house, you need to provide them with nourishment and drink," he says. "And if it's hundreds of people, so be it. It's a lot of work, but it's worth the effort."

"There are a few rules" for the participating artists, Lux says with a laugh. "Please do not give away red wine. Someone might go to your neighbor's house and spill it. And please find someplace else to park your car; the visitors need the spaces for that night."

-- Becca Martin-Brown

[email protected]

FAQ

White Street Walk

WHEN -- 4-10 p.m. today

WHERE -- White Street in Eureka Springs

COST -- Free

INFO -- Email [email protected]

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'The Art of Crochet'

"Eureka Springs is a town packed full of amazing, talented artists," Gina Gallina says. "Some people say 'Just because you can doesn't mean you should' [but] if we all stuck to that concept, would there be any art in this world?"

Gallina knew she could, so she did -- in a really big way. Well known in the community for her unusual artform, she decided to take "The Art of Crochet" to the next level.

Her grandmother taught her to crochet, Gallina says, but Grandma would no doubt be shocked at what she has done with that knowledge. She came out as the creator of unique yarn costumes at a previous White Street Walk -- with crocheted overalls -- and since then, she has crocheted an entire period French ball, complete with ballgowns and decor, and opened a shop in Eureka Springs to market her wares.

"The often branded 'grandma's hobby,'" she jokes about her work. "People ask, 'Can you make socks?' 'Can you make this baby koozie I found on Pinterest?' The answer is yes, of course. But that's not what I'm here to do. I enjoy crocheting the crazy Candy Land world in my head and making it a reality."

After visiting a little town In Mexico, where she found the town square full of painted color, Gallina came home and crocheted tree koozies for all the trees in Basin Spring Park. The project she calls "yarn bombing" is on exhibit throughout the May Festival of the Arts, and on Saturday, she'll host "The Art of Crochet" there.

"I've always wanted to do a public installation like this," she says. "But thanks to a dear friend, John Rankine, for lighting the fire and the city of Eureka Springs for allowing it to happen. It took about a month and half to crochet all the trees -- with frequent visits for measuring. Why? Why not?

"May is a festive month," she adds. "Flowers are blooming. We are all awakening from winter. And yarn bombing the trees is a way to add color and inspire us to celebrate."

-- Becca Martin-Brown

[email protected]

FAQ

'The Art of Crochet'

WHEN -- 1-7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE -- Basin Spring Park in Eureka Springs

COST -- Free

INFO -- eurekaspringsfestivalofthearts.com

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Plein Air Festival

The inaugural Eureka Springs Plein Air Festival, which starts Sunday, is the first to be held in the Ozarks, and painters across the country continue to sign up for a chance to capture the area's iconic scenery on canvas.

It's estimated a quarter million artists now participate in the plein air (French for "in the open air") movement, which began in the middle 1800s in France, died down somewhat and then experienced a huge resurgence in the U.S. in the 1980s. This year there are 135-plus plein air festivals and competitions being held across 36 states, enticing artists to travel hundreds of miles to paint in natural light at prized locations and compete for awards. The new May Festival of the Arts event is hosted by Eureka Springs School of the Arts and Plein Air Painters of Eureka Springs.

Daily paint-outs run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at a different location each day (the Crescent Hotel and Gardens, Beaver Bridge/Castle Rogue's Manor, Beaver Bluffs and Historic Downtown Eureka Springs). A special nocturnal paint-out is scheduled for 8 p.m. until sunrise on Wednesday night. Fees range from $20 to $35 for a one-day paint-out to $90 for all the paint-outs and include entry in daily competitions for prizes.

There are morning and afternoon workshops ranging from $30 to $45 held daily at the paint-out locations with the exception of a special Conservation and Restoration Workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center.

Awards receptions usually begin at 6 p.m. and are open to the public and free with the exception of the Crescent Hotel on Monday ($15) and the final Art Show and Awards reception Thursday at the Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center ($15).

Festival headliner Lloyd Kelly is a noted New Orleans-born artist with impressive educational credentials and a long list of museum exhibitions and gallery shows on his resume. He is an art educator and a plein air teacher/guide on trips to Mexico and France. He's offering three separate classes during the festival, including on Tuesday his popular "Three-Ring Circus," during which he works on three paintings in the same session.

Workshops by popular plein air artists Carl Petering, David Tripp and Wen Norton include topics from plein air essentials to techniques for different media, and art conservation and restoration.

The public is welcome to come and discover how watching paint dry can actually be a lot of fun.

-- CD White

Special to the NWADG

FAQ

Plein Air Festival

WHEN -- Sunday-Thursday

WHERE -- Various locations around Eureka Springs

COST -- Varies by event

INFO -- 253-5384 or essa-art.org/events/plein-air-festival

NAN What's Up on 05/20/2016

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