All posts by Chris Hough

Ovolution (June gallery exhibit)

Ovolution is a group exhibit of female artists from Arkansas opening on Friday, June 6, 5:00 – 9:00 pm. Ovolution is curated by Lilia Hernandez, of Little Rock, the project’s co-founder.

The works in this exhibit are made from a variety of media and processed and express equally diverse topics surrounding women. The first Ovolution exhibit was held in Little Rock, Arkansas in February, 2013 and was also featured in August, 2013 in Kansas City, MO. This exhibit is the first time Ovolution will have been featured in Hot Springs.

Ovolution is an organization that celebrates the essence of women and our talents, and contributes to the learning experience of our future female artists. It is a chance to gather as women and show the community what we are creating and doing by encouraging one another and sharing in a common experience. In return for the support that the community has given, Ovolution raises funds through events to assist young women and girls with their learning experience within the arts. Funds support scholarships to young women for art, dance, music, poetry, film, or craft classes and workshops.

Ovolution is the start of stronger female community for the purpose of bettering our community as a whole.

Volunteer Day Scheduled

A volunteer day is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, from 12pm to 7pm. Come down to the gallery and help us clean up, reset, and prepare for our June show Ovolution. Contact Erin to schedule a time for you or your group to help, or feel free to drop in. As always, we thank you for your time and effort — we couldn’t do it without you.

Summer Art Camp: Registering Now

We are offering two sessions of our annual summer camp this year.  Session 1 runs from June 23 through the 27th and Session 2 runs from July 7 through the the 10th.   Students will work in three visual arts classes each day, from 9am to 3pm.  Projects will include painting, drawing, sculpture, mixed media, paper-making, tye-dye, and more!  All materials and a snack will be included each day.  Students are required to bring a sack lunch.

Fee: $120

Click here for Online Registration

Tohoku: Through the Eyes of Japanese Photographers

tohoku1 Through the month of May, Emergent Arts is honored to house Tohoku: Through the Eyes of Japanese Photographers in conjunction with the Sister City program between Hanamaki and Hot Springs.  This is nationally touring exhibit that is only available in a few select cities.  You owe to yourself to see this exhibit during its brief stay.tohoku2

This exhibition of photographs of Tohoku, which marks the first anniversary of the great earthquake, does not attempt to document the damage or recovery but instead uses photography to show the natural and cultural environment of Tohoku along with its people and their way of life. It is composed of the work of nine individual photographers and one photographers’ group who belong to a variety of generations and stylistic tendencies but are all from Tohoku. Photographs taken in the 1940s will be shown alongside images of the present.  By presenting the viewpoints of highly individualistic photographers who represent the past, present, and future, this exhibition aims at introducing many fascinating aspects of Tohoku to the people of the world.

 

Nelson Guda at the Ozark Bathhouse

nels-in-old-srinagarEmergent Arts is proud to sponsor Nelson Guda as he presents a version of his Life as Canvas talk at the Ozark Bathhouse on June 14, 2014. Mr. Guda has presented a similar presentation for previous TEDx conferences. For more information about Nelson Guda, please visit nelsonguda.com.

Nelson Guda has worked in paint, ink, glass, steel, emulsion and electrons. He began his studies in art and physics in the US and then moved to Japan for three years to study traditional calligraphy, ceramics and printmaking with Japanese master artists and craftsmen. After studying and exhibiting in Japan, Nelson returned to the US where he worked in glass sculpture and architecture and earned a PhD in biology.

In 2007 Nelson returned to art full time and began “ROADLESS,” a project in which he looked at 60 million acres of little known wilderness areas across the US. The ROADLESS Project ended with a show in the US Senate Building in Washington, DC and numerous smaller shows around the country.

In 2009, while working as a visiting artist at the Archie Bray Foundation, Nelson conceived of “ENEMIES” – a project focused on understanding the way people move back into light from places of extreme darkness. ENEMIES began in East Africa in 2011 where Nelson brought people together from opposite sides of brutal conflicts in the slums of Kenya, the border of Sudan and South Sudan and the killing fields of Rwanda.

The ENEMIES project set Nelson on a path to make the actions involved in creating his art as important as the artworks themselves. In the case of ENEMIES, Nelson sees the act of seeking out conflict and resilience as a form of art in its highest sense of expression of the human experience.

Nelson has also produced work under several aliases and gives talks about his experiences and the stories that have come from his projects.