Arts & the Park kicks off with launch party

Arts & The Park is set to kick off into its 10-day art festival with a launch party from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Mountain Valley Spring Co., 135 Central Ave.

The event is a celebration of the arts in Hot Springs with more than 60 planned events from Friday through May 7.

The launch party will feature guest artist Kevin Kresse’s pop up exhibit in the Mountain Valley Water Gallery, live music from Chuck Dodson and a special dance performance from Amy Bramlitt with students from Hot Springs High School. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks are included in the ticket price.

Guests are encouraged to purchase tickets to the launch party in advance at http://www. hotspringsarts.org for $25. Tickets at the door will be $35.

The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance will also present the 2017 Arts Ambassador Award to Suzanne Tucker at the party. The annual Arts Ambassador Award is presented each year to a member of the Hot Springs community that embodies the spirit of the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s mission: to Celebrate, Advocate and Promote the arts and culture of Hot Springs.

Tucker and her husband located to Hot Springs in 1980. They purchased several downtown historic buildings in the mid 1980’s. Always a preservationist, she and her husband undertook restoration of these structures. One of the first uses of the restored building at 514 Central Ave. was to house the Hot Springs Art Center.

Adjacent to these buildings was the Benini Foundation. Lorraine Benini became, and still is, one of Tucker’s treasured friends, a news release said. Benini was instrumental in instilling an appreciation of fine art and art education in Tucker’s mind. They challenged one another and embarked on many adventures. One of the most important projects was helping in the early years with the formation of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Tucker and her husband provided office space and worked tirelessly in these years, giving this most important educational venue a strong foundation and credibility.

Tucker, Benini, Davis Tillman and art enthusiasts helped organize the Arts Cooperative Team in the 1990s and subsequently brought many regional, national and international artists to Hot Springs to lecture, read poetry and show their works of art.

Gallery Walk has existed in Hot Springs for more than 28 years and is still going strong, supported by gallery owners and giving artisans a venue to display and sell art work. It was not unusual for Tucker to buy works from these galleries and new struggling artists, encouraging them to stronger pursuits in the arts. As she gathered more and more art and had no wall space left, Tucker had to rotate pieces from under her bed in order to display it all.

No longer in the arts forefront, she can be found on a regular basis at her antiques store at 514 Central Ave. in downtown Hot Springs.

Visit http://www.hotspringsarts.org for tickets and a complete schedule.

Arts & The Park is made possible by the presenting sponsor, Mountain Valley Spring Water, and sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Heritage, Visit Hot Springs, The Morris Foundation, The Munro Foundation, Hot Springs Village, Arvest, and others.