ART Local: Answer to Experiments in Creativity #17

Last week I was in Northwest Arkansas. which includes the towns of Bentonville, Rogers, and Fayetteville, visiting my Dad. He lives in Rogers on Beaver Lake and this was the town where I decided to complete my Experiments in Creativity #17.  Although the new and grandiose Crystal Bridges Museum  is only a couple miles away in Bentonville, it was really a challenge to find the Local Art Scene in Rogers, Arkansas.The population of this town is sprawling, it is around 55,000 and most folks work for the Moguls of Walmart, Tyson's (factory torture farm for chickens) and JB Hunt. As I was trying to explore the Local Art scene in Rogers, I went into the historic downtown, which has cute cafes, shops and that is where I found the lone Artist Collective and where I completed my experiment. 


Step 1: Find the local art scene and document your adventure to and fro.

Poor Richards Artist Collective

Historic Downtown Rogers, Arkansas

Step 2: Pick a local artist who inspires you

Inside Poor Richards where I met Artist Damon Chatterton

 Step 3: Provide us with the website, images, etc. of that artist.

Damon Chatterton is a self taught Artist, who works in Polymer Clay. 

You can find more of his work at Poor Richards Art. 

Here is what Damon says about his process "Polymer clay has become my sweetest vice; working the clay makes me hungry, it feels like making candy or sushi. The colors and versatility of the medium allow me to make images with Millefiori, sculpt figures or build vessels, and even hand-roll my own beads.  I do not use paint to make my designs, only pure hand-worked clay."

Step 4: Create a work of art as a direct response to the artist and his/her work.

Work that I created in response to Damon's PolyClay. Spiral; Medium Sumi ink and Oil Pastel

Step 5: Tell us why you chose the artist and how the new work you created was inspired by him/her.  

I choose the Damon's work because I actually met him and we had nice conversation about the Poor Richards Art Collective. I checked out his work and what I liked was that his worked was inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco, two movements I have always been a fan of. The piece that I created in response to his work was a Spiral mixed media piece. It was inspired by Damon's organic forms and his strong color choice of grays tones and blacks. Also, I think subconsciously I choose the archetype of the Spiral because the Artist Collective is going through a journey as after the holiday season they will be closing and they hope to open up in new place in downtown Rogers. I wish them luck, they fill a necessary and very important role in their community. I do hope in the near future with the opening of Crystal Bridges  the Local Art Scene will start to flourish. Also, I know that the National Endowment of Arts has a cool community arts grant program called Our Town. Although, sadly the NEA is on the government chopping block these days and that grant might not be available very soon.
From this experiment a couple things came to my mind. I strongly feel that every town and city needs a thriving Arts Community it essential for individual expression, Civic Pride,community building, and empowerment. As Sir Ken Robinson eloquently surmises, "Creativity now is as important as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."  

Community Arts in truly my passion and in the near future, I hope to open a thriving and Transformative Community Art Center were ever I live that gives back to the community! 
Also, I am looking forward to hearing about your Local Art Scene and your creative response to it!  This was a fun EIC it is awesome to creatively embody your experience.-Lisa