Jaquita Ball knows what a mature art market looks like -- and she knows Northwest Arkansas isn't one quite yet.
That means "it is difficult for a gallery to exist as a stand-alone business venture," she says, but also that artwork is constantly finding more places to be seen. One of them is Midtown Associates, a real estate firm in downtown Bentonville with three "galleries" -- lobby and community room spaces -- Ball has been curating for almost two years.
FAQ
Holiday Show
WHEN — Through Jan. 3
WHERE — The Gallery at Midtown Associates, 211 S. Main St. in downtown Bentonville
COST — Admission is free; artwork is for sale
INFO — Email jaquita@jaquitaball…
FYI
Holiday Show
Schedule
Nov. 25 — Shop Local Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Dec. 2 — Santa paintings by Jeannie Stone of Russellville, plus Santa will be on hand for photos with kids of all ages, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Dec. 5 — Wearable art by Cheryl Kellar of Little Rock, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Dec. 7 — Paintings by Fayetteville artist Carol Hart, along with sterling jewelry artist Janelle Redlaczyk, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Dec. 8 — Photographs by Fayetteville artist Sabine Schmidt plus paper house construction workshop, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Dec. 15 — Painting demo by Jaquita Ball, along with potter Ben Edwards, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Dec. 16 — Rust painting demo by Joel Armstrong of Siloam Springs, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Ball, an artist herself who has Red Cat Art Studio in Bentonville, had just moved back from Santa Fe when Midtown Associates sought her out. Her sojourn painting in New Mexico was supposed to last six months and had turned into almost four years -- and along the way, she also earned a degree in gallery management.
"I thought it would be worthwhile as a professional artist to learn how artists and galleries interact, and I got to work in Santa Fe galleries for awhile, which was wonderful," she says.
Armed with her degree, she's been introducing regional artists to the Bentonville art community one at a time, in solo shows that usually last a month. But it's that season of the year when more is better, so Ball invited several artists to share the space through December and asked each of them to host one day. Nov. 25 is "Shop Local Saturday," when Ball will be host all day, and all of the artists will be "popping in and out" from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., then it will be Jeannie Stone's turn, followed by Carol Hart, Sabine Schmidt, Ball herself and Joel Armstrong.
"There was a caveat -- actually two," Ball says of her invitation to the artists. The artwork for sale had to be sized smaller than 12 inches by 12 inches and priced less than $500 -- plus a few artists will have prints for sale under $100.
"We have sold pieces in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, but I really wanted to make it accessible and encourage people in downtown Bentonville to come meet the artists," she says.
"Art can be very personal," she says. "When you give a piece of original art, that's what has come out of that artist's soul, their head, their hands, their heart. Sometimes I have a very hard time letting go of [a painting] because there is something of me in it. But it's always wonderful when you make that connection with somebody. You know there's something about that piece of art that connected with them -- you may never know what, but there's some kind of story. That's how people connect with art."
NAN What's Up on 11/19/2017