What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 WHAT'S UP! MAY 8-14, 2022 COVER STORY The Faces Of The Blues Icons live on in resin casts, photos, music APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette I f you've not been lucky enough to be in the same room as Robert Johnson, Koko Taylor, Bobby Blue Bland or other blues icons, you might feel as if you have after visiting "A Cast of Blues." A total of 15 resin-cast faces now line a wall at 214 By CACHE, the gallery space at 214 S. Main St. in Springdale formerly known as the Arts Center of the Ozarks. The exhibition also includes a number of photographs by Ken Murphy featuring other musical artists from the Mississippi Delta. The faces of blues legends are finely detailed, giving visitors a very clear picture of what they looked like the day the cast was made, something that goes well beyond the shape of each face. Strands of hair, beards, uniquely shaped ears — everything is exactly as it was. Orson Weems, executive director of the Music Education Initiative, helped bring the exhibit to Northwest Arkansas and says a group of physicians came to see the casts, and they were amazed at the level of detail. "They were like 'Wait a minute, I'm seeing veins, pimples and moles,'" Weems says. You can't miss Bobby Blue Bland's soul patch and thin mustache. Artist Sharon McConnell- Dickerson captured everything, Weems says, through her extremely fast alginate process. "When they look at these casts, notice that there are no air holes for a straw like you see in a mask or other casts, for them to breathe through; she did it so quickly." Altogether Dickerson created a total of 59 casts to memorialize blues musicians, these 15 in particular were curated by Chuck Haddix, music historian and director of the Marr Sound Archives, and have been touring since 2014 through the Kansas City- based Mid-America Arts Alliance. "I like my masks to be touched," McConnell-Dickerson says. "There's something about the flesh that when you look in the mirror, you're seeing a flat image. But the molding material This life-cast portrait of R.L. Burnside was made in 2003 by artist Sharon McConnell-Dickerson. She spent 16 years immortalizing blues artists in resin casts and created a grand total of 59. The 214 BY CACHE gallery in Springdale houses 15 of them, a collection that has been touring for nine years. (Courtesy Photo) FYI More About The Music You can hear tracks from the artists in the exhibit while walking through the gallery, since a playlist of Mississippi Delta blues is always on the speakers during open hours. But if you'd like to keep the music going, search for "A Cast of Blues NWA" playlist on Spotify. It highlights music from all the legendary blues musi cians featured in the exhibit. — musiceducationinitiative.org FYI In Concert The Music Education Initia tive will host Bobby Rush Raw: An Intimate Night of Stories & Songs at 8 p.m. May 20 at the David & Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in Fayetteville. Doors open at 7 p.m. INFO — musiceducation initiative.org FAQ 'A Cast of Blues' WHEN — 10 a.m.5 p.m. MondaySaturday through May 27 WHERE — 214 By CACHE, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale COST — Free INFO — facebook.com/music edinitiative