Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Paradigm Shift
Art Ventures leads way online, on campus
The new exhibit by artists at the Art Ventures collective is showing at the University of Arkansas’ Faulkner Performing Arts Center on the University of Arkansas campus. Titled “The Shape of Our World,” it will have a special focus on three-dimensional work, says Art Ventures President Sharon Killian. The nonprofit arts organization lost its space in December in what seemed like a crushing blow at the time. In reality, the loss of a physical space put the organization on track to digitize their artists’ work and offer virtual exhibits months before the rest of the world’s arts organizations were forced to do the same because of the covid-19 pandemic.
“With the technology that is accessible to us, and to almost everybody that I know, the three-dimensional works are not as easily translated,” say Killian.
“It looks like a digitized version of something, and it’s not true to the object. We like to have sculptors involved in everything we do, [but, digitally,] we didn’t have a chance to do that well. So this show is about the shape of our world — and the concept is that our world is centered by the diversity of organisms that populate it: those that fit together by attributes that complement like yin and yang, hard and soft, short and tall, red and green.
“‘The Shape of Our World’ presents a diverse and complementary group of artists who create connections that ultimately center and balance it,” she continues. “It’s a universal theme of art that can be pretty much applied to anything, and I thought that such a diverse group of artists, and the way they work together, really represents — especially at this time — a diverse group of folks who shape our world and end up seeing eye to eye. I believe it really is a symbiotic process.”
Artists involved in the exhibit include Maryam Amirvaghefi, Eric Andre, Cheri Bohn, Beth Burgess, Shelby Fleming, Tom Flynn and Martin Morales.
Killian says her organization first started collaborating with the Faulkner Center in the fall of 2018.
“The space is beautiful,” she says. “We’re trying to get students, faculty and people who come to the university to be exposed to what’s happening in the greater community, sort of in their own house, so to speak. We invite them to come into ours, so it’s kind of nice.
“We’ve been doing themed exhibitions that align with cultural performances they’ve been hosting,” Killian says of the Faulkner Center. “For example, we’ll exhibit contemporary art in the Latinx diaspora, featuring artists who are from the Latinx community locally, regionally and internationally, and they’ll usually have a Latinx performing artist come and do a show. We’ve also done shows with the Middle Eastern community, and we’ve done shows for Black History Month while [the Faulkner Center has] done programs relative to that.
“We’re trying to let people know,” Killian asserts, “that they’re welcome wherever Art Ventures is, that they belong there, and that we respect their cultural work and the words that come out of their culture. Everybody’s culture has art, but it’s not always prevalent. But, here, they can come to a place and see their language, written by themselves, or an interpretation of what they’re trying to say with the work being expressed. The visual arts that we do have so many edges; so many turns of the diamond can be applied to it.”
Safety precautions will be in full effect at the Faulkner Center. Guests are asked to pre-screen for any covid-19 symptoms prior to attending any event. Masks are required, and guests are asked to keep a safe, six-foot distance from each other. There’s also a limit of four guests at a time viewing the exhibit.
Killian says Art Ventures will continue to forge new ground as the need for more online outreach continues through the pandemic.
“We’re still looking to create even better opportunities,” she says. “We’ve applied for a grant and got it from the Regional Arts Service Organization. We’re using it to try and create a new paradigm: an e-commerce site that’s worth its salt. We’re not sure how long this period is going to be and whether we’re ever going back to the place we were before.”