What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1101259
BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette O ften, when we think about the problems facing the world, they seem insurmountable," muses Val Gonzalez, executive director of Terra Studios east of Fayetteville." We feel hopeless about having any impact on global issues. But we truly can do our part. In fact, many of the biggest issues the world faces are being addressed by a handful of individuals who care. We cannot do it all, but we can all do something." With a mission of "using art to create a better world," the something Terra Studios decided to do will be unveiled April 13. The Better World Mural includes the work of 19 artists, Gonzalez says. "Last year at the Compassion Fayetteville Partners Celebration, we heard Marilyn Turkovich, the director for the Charter for Compassion International, speak," Gonzalez remembers. "During her presentation, she talked about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and we were inspired. So we came up with the idea of a collaborative project where each of the goals would be depicted by a different artist to create a mural that would be permanently installed at Terra Studios. We also included a panel about the Charter for Compassion, because that's where our inspiration came from. "At first, we thought we would have a very formal process for choosing artists," she goes on. "However, as soon as we told a few of our artist friends about the project, they were volunteering and choosing their preferred goal. The word spread, [and] all the panels were taken in short order. "The very first goal to be taken was the one about climate action," Gonzalez adds. "Susan Crabtree, a scenic artist and neighbor, was over for dinner, and when we showed her the concept, she said, 'I'm in. I want this one!' And that's pretty much how it all fell into place." The size and scope of the project was daunting for many of the artists, but perhaps none more than for Susan Idlet, who ordinarily works in colored pencils. "When Jamie [Ulick, president of the Terra Studios Board] asked me to participate, I told him I was NOT a painter. He said he was pretty sure I would be able to figure it out, so I agreed," says Idlet, who moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1994, following her brother Ezra Idlet of Trout Fishing in America and his family from Houston. "The 4-foot by 4-foot white panel stared at me for two months before I was brave enough to start. I talked to lots of other painters, getting advice, tips, etc. I bought the stuff. And Jamie was right. I figured it out." Idlet selected "compassion" as her theme. "I have painted a cozy quilt with some welcoming hands — there to wrap you up in the warmth of love and compassion. I hope folks will kind of feel the hug I'm sending out," she says. Although Idlet has been a working artist for only three years, she says as a child her life's ambition was to make art. "We lived in Baltimore, and my FEATURE 8 WHAT'S UP! APRIL 7-13, 2019 Courtesy Photo The Better World Mural consists of 21 panels overall, each a 4x4 sign board donated by City Lumber Company, painted with a high-grade exterior paint donated by Sherwin Williams of Fayetteville. Here, Jamie Ulick of Terra Studios adds clear coat for the mural's outdoor display. Artists collaborate to bring sustainability message to Terra Studios