Artists from three states gather in Fort Smith

 

story and photos by Joel Rafkin
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Nine artists from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas gathered at the Fort Smith Convention Center Saturday night to create works and raise money for the Center For Art & Education.

The 5×5 Artisans Squared event featured small 5-inch square painting to be given out by drawing to each ticket holder. The works were painted by area artists and were chosen by the ticket holders on a first-come basis as their tickets were drawn in groups of 12. Any remaining pieces were sold for $50.

A dinner buffet consisting of steak, spinach stiffed chicken breast, potatoes, carrots and salad was catered by Golden Corral.

Throughout the evening, guests mingled with the artists who worked on pieces to be auctioned off at the end of the event. In addition, 20 silent auction items were available for bid.

William Herring, the featured guest artist from Clint, Texas, dipped his brush in a glass of red wine while painting his southwestern cowboy-themed watercolor. At first he sipped the wine too but relinquished it to brush washing duty as the elixir became overly saturated with paint. One could say that he truly puts a piece of himself into his work.

Artists George Kountoupis, Susan Kennigseder, Martha Efurd, John Lasater IV, and Lin Chen worked on paintings either in oil or watercolor.

Sculptor Ingrid Gipson created the clay bust "Eve Banished IV" while Winston Taylor fired a ceramic piece in an on-site kiln. A crowd gathered to watch Taylor add decorative patterns to the vase-like structure when it was removed from the kiln. The acrid smell of burning hair filled the air when he carefully draped strands of horse hair over the ceramic vessel. Taylor then sprinkled the piece with sawdust which added another element to the pattern etched into the clay and, as an added bonus, freshened the air.

Barbara and Polly Moore created wearable art as they worked on silver jewelry — a pair of earrings with an inset stone to be exact.

Jane Owen, executive director of The Center For Art & Education expects the event to raise more than $10,000 for the center to help fund events throughout the year, summer camps and art education. Tickets were $100 and each admitted two people. Final values of the winning live auction bids were split 50/50 with the artists.

"We’re not only here to teach art which is one of our major focuses but we want our artists to be able to make a living at what they’re doing and for people to understand what an artist has to go through to create a piece of art. It’s not something that they can just stand up and make a piece in two seconds and it’s over. The value that they put on the pieces are well worth the money that they ask for it because it takes time; it takes talent and believe me, I’ve worked in art and it’s not something that just happens. You’ve got to build your skills and that’s what the art center is all about," Owen said.