Celebration day! Saturday, October 6th--the day we all have been waiting for. The first annual Conway ArtsFest was a huge success. With over 300 persons--young and old---in attendance, the celebration of the mural, and the arts in Conway was a 5 hour showcase of Conway treasures.
The day began with displays of public art created by local Conway Public School children. Over 9 local schools had been working with the UCA Art Education Department for the past 6 weeks, to include the mural, public art in general and Conway history in their curriculums. Dr. Deb Kuster worked very closely with Dr. Seymour and I to come up with project ideas and to devise a means to display the artwork on October 6th.
The results of this work were amazing! Some schools did a unit on superheroes--taking a cue from the flying kid in the mural. Some decided that the flying kid night be lonely in the mural, so they created papier mache "pets" for her. Others colaborated on painting small murals on single bricks--priming, painting, then installing them in a decorative fashion onsite--mimicking the mural process, but also symbolizing the "building blocks" of the community. This activity was the most striking of all to me, as it reached so many young people and taught them so much about art, history, and giving back to the community. Good job!
At 12noon, the UCA Pinnacle Brass started the event with a concert in Simon Park, the site of the mural. At 12:30pm, it was time to dedicate the mural. Mayor Tab Townsell spoke first, expressing his deep appreciation for the work and care that went into this mural and stated that this mural would be cherished as a source of pride for the city for years to come. I felt his sincerity, especially since he had his mother make a quilt-cape (and found some pink glasses) for his two year old daughter Riley, who made a grand entrance as the flying kid from the mural.
I was up next. I thanked everyone involved, and gave a brief description of the figures and objects that constituted the mural image. I went on to announce that we had finally given the mural a title: Aurora Rising. Dr. Gayle Seymour actually gave me this title, after she and I struggled over ideas for several weeks.
The title relates to the Roman goddes of the dawn--Aurora--who leads us into the new day, and also reflects the idea of the "borealis" effect of the sky's filigree. The "rising" part of the title is also very important, as it denotes the idea of Conway being a progressive city, still striving to better itself---rising toward tomorrow.
Dean Rollin Potter of the UCA College of Fine Arts and Comminication and Hendrix Provost Robert Entzminger rounded out the ceremony with wonderful accolades of the project, but also spoke about how this (first ever) partnership between our schools and the city of Conway would not end here, but continue into future endeavors.
The event quickly launched into a dance performance by the Hendrix dance troupe that enacted Anansi Does the Impossible, a famous African folktale put to interpretive movement and dramatic speech. Next up was the Arkansas Shakespeare Company that did a rather comical, three-man rendition of Romeo and Juliet. It was silly, but really well done and had the entire crowd enthralled and laughing histerically.
As soon as the performances had subsided, the moderator, Matt Chiorini, directed the group to Mike's Place across the street where a series of short films were on display, created by students of the UCA Mass Communications and Theatre Department. Scott Meador, who had documented the mural project, had a short film on the mural but also displayed many student-made short films for our enjoyment.
The day culminated in a concert back at Hendrix, with shuttle buses taking attendees to and from that event.
This was an amazing event, that was inspirational in its sheer coordination of so many different organizations and community members all coming together to show their support and appreciation. I believe that this is proof that this city loves art, loves its artists, and is hungry and ready to produce more public art.
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