Muralist set for virtual interview with library
International artist Pepe Gaka will return to Hot Springs virtually Thursday when he participates in a live interview with the Garland County Library.
Gaka, the stage name of Giuseppe Percivati, of Turin, Italy, has painted around 10 murals in Hot Springs since 2017. Currently at his home in Italy, he told The Sentinel-Record via email he is looking forward to talking with Hot Springs again.
When asked why he was participating in a virtual interview with the library, Gaka said, “they asked me about it, and I was
happy about that.”
Paul Kagebein, the library’s adult services programmer, said he decided to feature Gaka because he wanted to do one with an artist. “I was just kind of brainstorming, we haven’t had a program with an artist for a while,” he said, noting he contacted Gaka and he “was happy to do it.”
“I will give a small presentation about my activity as a muralist, and how I create both the designs and the murals themselves,” Gaka said. The interview will be streamed live via Facebook Live.
Gaka will also answer questions that can be posted during the event or emailed to Kagebein in advance at pkagebein@gclibrary.com.
Kagebein said he is a fan of Gaka’s work, describing Gaka’s Black Broadway, Quapaw and Garvan Woodland Gardens murals as beautiful.
“I think it’s very inspiring and it’s added a lot of iconic images to Hot Springs,” he said.
Gaka’s most recent mural is one depicting Hanamaki, Japan, during spring. It is the second Hanamaki mural he has painted in the city. The first was painted in 2018 and shows Hanamaki during winter.
When Gaka returned to Hot Springs to paint the second Hanamaki mural, he got stuck in America due to COVID-19. He spent three months living in town, leaving after finishing the mural in July and returning home.
He said he has been “mainly working a bit in my studio which I am setting up in my home in Italy. It’s been something I wanted to do in the last few years, but never had time to, so it was a positive things for me to be back home for a bit.”
Gaka said he “definitely” intends to return to Hot Springs in 2021, “but who knows when traveling internationally without too many restrictions will be allowed again?” He said he has two murals he wants to paint in the city.
“I plan to add a new season in the series of the Japanese sister city murals, next to come will be the summer. Then one mural I wanted to create is for the First Step, to raise awareness about cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other conditions,” Gaka said.
“Hot Springs is like my second home, and I miss everyone there,” he said.
Gaka’s interview will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday on Facebook Live, and will also be put on the library’s YouTube page.
Kagebein said their virtual interviews and events have been successful so far. “In best case scenario, our auditorium can fit 100 to 120 people,” he said, noting recent virtual events at the library have had far more views.
Kagebein said a talk with Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero in September has over 1,700 views, an introduction to American Sign Language with Eddie Schmeckenbecher has almost 900, and a presentation by Garland County Audubon Society President Jerry Butler has over 500 views.
Kagebein said after the success of the virtual events, the library will continue to do them even after the pandemic has ended. He said they will do hybrid events, both physical and virtual, “but we will absolutely do virtual events.”