What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 What's up! January 15-21, 2023 Feature 'Art Is Transformative' art Ventures focuses on representation, education, community MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette A rt Ventures has hit the ground running in 2023. Executive Director Lakeisha Edwards says that the first quarter will include kids' art education through workshops and the K-12 Art Initiative and special exhibits at the Chamber of Commerce, the Faulkner Center, TheatreSquared, The Medium and more. The programming, Edwards says, is built upon Art Ventures' three pillars: art representation, art education and community collaboration. Artist representation includes the many shows that are planned throughout Northwest Arkansas as well as exhibits in the Lower Ramble in Fayetteville or at Northwest Arkansas National Airport in Bentonville. It also means allowing everyone to see themselves in the art that they view. "We really push our local artists into mainstream exhibitions," not only to help artists share their work but also "to ensure that people have proper representation so that people see themselves when they go into the spaces where they see art, and making sure that our marginalized communities are represented," Edwards says. Art Ventures also helps the artists to secure connections which allow their art to travel. That can mean showing work at galleries like their partner, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, where artists gain more exposure. Locally, Edwards has seen Art Ventures artists such as Eloa Jane show her paper art in the Focus Paris 2022 International Art Exhibit at the Carrousel de Louvre in Paris, France. Lourdes Valverde, another Art Ventures represented artist, took her art to other galleries around the state and is preparing to take her work abroad as well. Art Ventures also offers art education programs for local kids, which is the second pillar. "That education comes twofold. One is for youth education through our K through 12 Gallery Initiative and our workshops. And then we also have a [paid] internship," Edwards says. For the K-12 Initiative, "we take the kids through the entire gallery process," explains Edwards. "We either go into a school or into a public space and set up a workshop that lasts anywhere from six to eight weeks. The kids do research on a topic, usually some type of world problem, like pollution," and then they explore that "Seeing Through" by Ziba rajabi was part of an art Ventures exhibition of her work shown at the Faulkner performing arts Center on the university of arkansas campus in Fayetteville. (Courtesy photo/Ziba rajabi)