"You'll never guess what I just saw in downtown Fayetteville?"
"Who?"
"Hey, how did you know?"
"Uh, what?
"No, you were right the first time."
"When are you going to stop rambling and tell me what you saw in downtown Fayetteville?"
"Hoo."
"No, the question was when."
"I'm telling you right now."
"What are you telling me?"
"No, hoo!"
"I'm exhausted."
"What goes hoo, hoo, hoo?"
"An owl."
"Bingo. Now you know what I saw on a big wall in downtown Fayetteville."
----^----
Fort Smith just helped put a little more of the funk in Fayetteville.
Who?
Let's not go there again. This isn't an Abbott and Costello routine (Google it, kids). It's Fort Smith, Fayetteville's neighbor to the south. Organizers of last year's inaugural The Unexpected mural festival made a neighborly gesture this year by including Fayetteville in the public art endeavor that's produced amazing results in Fort Smith.
Last year, a nonprofit organization called 64.6 Downtown in Fort Smith launched an inspired effort to bring in well-known urban artists, give them 10 large walls on downtown businesses and turn their creativity loose. The result was a collection of unique, eye-catching pieces of art that immediately lifted Fort Smith's spirits, and its reputation as a community that appreciates art.
This month, the event was repeated with terrific results worth visiting the River Valley to see.
And Fayetteville owes Fort Smith a pat on the back and a word of thanks. Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz within a few days changed a eyesore of a wall facing College Avenue at Center Street into a traffic-slowing, eye-catching owl below a crescent moon. At the center of the owl's body is an American Indian dreamcatcher with a single eye -- similar to the triangle-encased eye on the back of a dollar bill -- staring toward east Fayetteville.
Whose eye is it? I'm not sure that mystery will ever be solved, but my bet is it's Mayor Lioneld Jordan's. He's tends to show up everywhere. Maybe that will keep some poor soul east of the mural from freaking out a la "the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg."
I started to publish a photo of it with my column, but folks ought to see it firsthand.
If the owl (and its third eye) were looking southward, toward Fort Smith, it would see an eclectic collection of murals in a variety of locations, each one a contribution to the look and feel of the city. The folks from 64.6 Downtown -- by the way, the number refers to the 64.6 square miles within the city's boundaries -- were brilliant to start the project and to now create a link to it in Fayetteville. They've said they were partly inspired by a desire to capture the excitement that lingers around the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. I'd say they did a nice job of it.
Back in Fayetteville, the emergence of the owl from the blank wall has created a lot of excitement. For a lot of people, the bird appeared out of no where and they're surprised by its watchful gaze. The image is a great addition to the Fayetteville experience.
I'm just thankful the artist didn't scrawl "shop local" across his artwork. He was wise.
Like an owl.
Commentary on 09/12/2016