Painting the Town

Second Friday Art Night allies downtown galleries for monthly art parties

by Amy Bowers

    Second Friday Art Night in Downtown Little Rock began in March 2005 as a way to bring people downtown after work for a night of art and entertainment in the River Market district. Every second Friday of the month, beginning at 5 pm and ending at 8 pm, participating galleries—the Historic Arkansas Museum, River Market ArtSpace, Ten Thousand Villages, Cox Creative Center, Hearne Fine Art, and occasionally the Terry House and the Arts Center—host opening receptions that feature a new artist, exhibit, or demonstration. People are encouraged to look, buy, and enjoy being downtown. The events are free, and each gallery has complementary refreshments, usually either wine and cheese or cookies and punch, but some break out the catering companies and Bud Light.
    I began May's Art Night at gallery number one on the map, the Historic Art Museum at 200 E. Third Street, which I would recommend, not only for the best food, drink, and art, but also for an actual parking lot that is free. Dero Sanford, Jerry Atchley, Rusty Hubbard, and Erin Lorenzen definitely took the prize for the most eye-catching art of the night with their show of photography and sculpture, Boundaries. Dero's color photographs of Kenya were especially striking. The photos were bold and clear and the colors very vibrant—he captured the strength of a place stricken with poverty and AIDS, and managed to successfully reveal the persistence of its people. The exhibition will be there until July 9; I recommend catching it.
    The only downfall of the Historic Arkansas Museum, though they have the best refreshment selection, is that you can't drink and walk. All food and drink must be left in the lobby before viewing the artwork, so don't load up before you try to enter the gallery or you will end up standing in the lobby with Little Rock's finest, nibbling cheese and hummus and chugging complimentary Bud Light.
    Since I had a bit of a late start, I left the Historic Art Museum on a mad dash to finish the walk before it closed at 8. My friends and I fumbled for our maps on the sidewalk of Third Street as a bus, masquerading inside and out as a trolley, pulled up its stop on the Art Night tour. We hopped on expecting to be taken two blocks north, to the gallery hot spots on President Clinton Avenue, but were in for a wild ride when the bus made an unexpected right turn taking us further and further into downtown, to what we hoped was some unknown mystery gallery.
    The bus ride was nice, but at around 6:30 was pretty empty. Since most of the galleries are on the same street though, its really only useful for getting to the out of the way locations, like the historic Terry House at Seventh and Rock St., which is where we were eventually dropped off. This was an off the map adventure which turned out to be one of the best exhibits we saw all night.
    The house was beautiful, with brick walkways, gardens, and a patio, but what stood out most was “Three Really Really Short Films,” a series of three short animated films by Warren Criswell, that everyone gathered around as they nibbled on cookies and punch. My favorite was an animated one featuring music by Chopin, where the chalk outline of a woman walks towards you down a dark hallway, into a room, sits on a bed, and a man's hand reaches out to touch her. The film looped several times, beginning with the lined figures in black and white and developing and adding more detail, shadows, light and color tones each time the sequence is played, until in the end the scene was almost completely changed.
    After the bus dropped us back on the main road of galleries, we rushed to see the rest of the show before it closed down, starting at the River Market ArtSpace. Most of the work there was stuff that seemed like I had seen it there the month before. The food and drinks were already put away, and things were winding down way too early.
    The art picked up again though at Hearne Fine Art, which can be found in the same building as the entrance to the Museum of Discovery. This gallery specializes in African American art. Last month's star was Shalishah Franklin, who had a series of oil pastels on wood on display. The works were close-ups of young women's attitude-filled faces, and the colors were so vibrant they were almost neon. The show was a presentation of NIA Art Collective of Memphis, an organization whose mission is to “enrich the cultural condition of the greater Memphis community through the support and cultivation of the practice of black visual artists.” Hearne Fine Art is always a breath of fresh air on Art Night, and I recommend never missing it.
    As 7:55 rolled around we were doubling back over to the Cox Creative Center, which looked like something we should have put higher on our list of Art Night priorities. On the third floor at the Cox Creative Gallery was tons of wine and cheese where the opening reception for regional artists was coming to an end. The second floor exhibit, where the live music was playing was the home of an impressive student exhibition from Parkview Arts and Science Magnet.
    The next Second Friday Art Night will be happening this Friday, June 9. I suggest everyone get out to support all the local artists and at least enjoy the refreshments and change of scenery. Your best bets for this weekend are probably the Historic Museum, which will be showing the work of Jessica Stalley, a fascinating portrait and landscape painter, and John James Audubon's 70 original hand-colored lithographs from Quadrupeds of North America, published between 1845 and 1848.
    Also, the Arkansas Arts Center will be joining the gallery lineup with a much talked about Picasso exhibit, Pursuing Picasso. The event is $12 for adults and $8 for students, but after you've saved on all the free food and drinks, I'm sure it equals out in the end. The show features drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Picasso, along with work of some of his contemporaries including Cezanne, Braque, Rivera, Matisse, Chagall and more.
    I recommend you start at the Historic Museum, and see where the trolley takes you.

Amy Bowers is the publications assistant for Hortus Ltd. and is currently trying to build her reputation as a local critic. Lately she has been reviewing plays, house parties, art, the ballet, her favorite beers, swimming pools in NLR, and garage sales. Holler at her at skullandarkansas@yahoo.com.