‘Together We Art’
New arts festival to promote art, community in Greenbrier
Shellie O’Quinn had long dreamed about having a Greenbrier arts festival, and when the city opened a new park, the idea and the location seemed like a perfect combination.
Art Jam ’21 is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 24 at Matthews Park, 42 S. Broadview. The 55-acre park opened in July.
The festival’s theme is “Together We Art.” The free event will celebrate performing and visual arts.
“I’ve been dreaming of an art event for years,” said O’Quinn, events director for Greenbrier. “Since COVID-19 happened, we didn’t get to have a big grand opening [for the park]. This will be our first opportunity to invite the public and do a public event in the park.”
Art Jam ’21 is a way “that’s not highbrow” to bring arts to the community, O’Quinn said. “We didn’t want it to be intimidating. Art is for everybody.”
The primary goal is to raise money for at least one $500 scholarship for a Greenbrier student pursuing an art degree in college, including visual or performing arts, O’Quinn said.
“We don’t really focus on the arts a lot in Greenbrier, and I know that’s probably typical of a town our size, but it doesn’t have to be that way, right?” she said.
O’Quinn said that when she started to put her dream into action, she called friends who also support the arts. The result was the creation of the Greenbrier Area Arts Council.
One of the first friends she called was Lynita Langley-Ware, director of the Faulkner County Museum in Conway.
“With Art Jam, I saw an opportunity to work with my dear friend Shellie, whom I’ve known since we were children,” Langley-Ware said. “We both grew up in Greenbrier. We really wanted to do something for Greenbrier that was a celebration.”
Langley-Ware is a founding member and treasurer of the new arts council.
“Shellie and I have been back and forth with this idea for about 10 years,” Langley-Ware said. “We wanted a group supportive of the arts in Greenbrier. We started talking in October about doing this event and navigating the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines. We said, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we gave a scholarship like they do at Toad Suck [Daze]? Wouldn’t it be cool if people could contribute?’”
Art Jam ’21 is presented by Herschel Hall, a new event center set to open in Greenbrier.
The day will be packed with activities, O’Quinn said.
“It really kind of mushroomed; it kind of exploded on us,” she said.
The day will feature arts of all kinds, including live music. The Greenbrier High School and junior high jazz bands will perform, as well as the Central Arkansas Trombone Choir.
“It’s going to be fantastic, if you like horn music,” O’Quinn said. The Peterson Family Trio, “who are really well known in the folk community,” will perform during the festival, too.
Artists will have booths, and prizes will be given for the best booth. Three local authors — Nancy Allen, Cindy Beckman and Jim Yeager — will hold meet-and-greets as well. A student exhibit will feature Greenbrier students’ works, selected by their art teachers.
The event O’Quinn said she is most excited about is the Home Depot Bustin’ Loose activity, a collaborative community painting. Festival attendees can help create art by throwing balloons prefilled with paint at the three canvases.
“It’ll be really cool,” she said. “Bustin’ Loose speaks to getting out and about after we’ve been cooped up so long. We’re taking out some frustration, throwing those balloons. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Julie Isom, chairwoman of the Greenbrier Area Arts Council, said the arts need to be expanded, especially into rural areas. “Share the love,” she said with a laugh.
Isom, who works part time for the Greenbrier City Event Center, is an artist and is spearheading the collaborative community art project.
“It’s a form of abstract expressionism,” she said of the balloon-bursting art. “Some people call it action art. … We just decided it was a fun thing to do.”
Isom said she works in acrylic and primarily creates abstract expressionism.
“One of the reasons I like abstract art is because of how I feel about it,” she said. “It can bring anyone in because it’s open to interpretation.”
Langley-Ware will create a time capsule for the Faulkner County Museum.
“The brainchild was to put something at the festival that people could write down on an index card — something they wanted to share that was significant for them about the COVID-19 year. Then the time capsule would come back to the museum … and be part of the permanent collection,” she said.
Langley-Ware said the museum will also have an exhibit presented in two pop-up tents that will include historic Greenbrier photographs and offer handson activities. A quilt from the Greenbrier community “that has a really cool story” will be displayed, Langley-Ware said, and another quilt will be raffled.
The traveling exhibit will be at three locations in Greenbrier after the event: Greenbrier City Hall, the Greenbrier City Event Center and Greenbrier Nursing and Rehab. The exhibit will include one of the three pieces of collaborative art; the two other canvases will be permanently exhibited around the track in the event center, O’Quinn said.
A Kidz Zone, sponsored by First Security Bank, will include four or five activities, she said. “Some are take-and-make; some are make-and-take,” O’Quinn said.
“There are going to be different things to do throughout the day,” she said. “We’re hoping people will plan to come out and stay for a while.”
A “surprise happy hour” for kids will be held during the day, and Usborne Books will have giveaways, O’Quinn said.
A coloring contest sponsored by the Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce, with a prize of $50, is underway until April 22. It’s open to kids 13 and younger. To download the coloring sheet and for more information, go to greenbrierchamber.org.
The Greenbrier Satellite Rotary Club will cook hot dogs, which will be free, on First Security Bank’s Teal Grill, and MoJo’s Hometown Pizza will provide food for the vendors.
If rain is forecast, the festival will move inside the Greenbrier City Event Center, O’Quinn said.
She encouraged people to monitor the city of Greenbrier’s Facebook page, as well as Instagram, for updated information on the festival and the upcoming announcement of an additional contest. People may donate online and directly to the Greenbrier Area Arts Council, she said. Donations for the Greenbrier Area Arts Council scholarship may be taken to the Greenbrier Mayor’s Office or the City Event Center.
The city received a grant from Community Services Inc. for the event. A $3,000 grant was received from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Faulkner County Affiliate of the Arkansas Community Foundation also provided money. Art Jam ’21 T-shirts, sponsored by the Children’s Clinic in Conway and Greenbrier, will be sold, with proceeds going toward the scholarship.
O’Quinn said the Greenbrier Area Arts Council doesn’t want Art Jam to be a one-time event.
“We are all about it; we want to see this thing go on for years and years and years,” she said.