Flyer Guide: First Thursday – February 2010

Last month’s ice cold temperatures did very little to disrupt First Thursday Fayetteville. We’re assuming tonight’s wet weather forecast won’t have much effect either. Sorry Mother Nature*, the First Thursday beast has become too large to tame.

Here’s what we know about tonight’s events:

East Square Plaza

East Square Plaza, located at 1 E. Center, will present a free acoustic showcase featuring local musicians Effron White, Stephen Floyd & Alex Flippin and Virginia Avenue starting at 5 p.m.

Also, there will be tables set up in the lobby to receive donations for Mayor Lioneld Jordan’s WE CAN! food drive and the Fayetteville Animal Shelter’s pet food drive. The shelter will also be bringing some animals who need a home. Maybe you can find a new friend tonight?

Fayetteville Underground

Fayetteville Underground, located in the downstairs section of East Square Plaza, hosts two major art openings in the Revolver and Hive galleries as well as various works and fine crafts in the Vault and E-Street galleries. All exhibitions will last until Feb. 27.

© C.E. Nelson

Strangers and Not So Strange – Craig Earl Nelson
Fayetteville Underground, Hive Gallery

Craig Nelson‘s latest work is a series of intimate and piercing close-up portraits taken while using only natural light from the windows of local bars. The largely hand-held shots are taken using Fujifilm instant, peel-apart pack-film with a Mamiya RB67 Pro-S medium-format camera.

Your chances of seeing some familiar local faces in this project are pretty good. Just take a peek at Nelson’s website for a teaser of tonight’s opening.

© Kat Wilson

Habitats – Kat Wilson
Fayetteville Underground, Revolver Gallery

For years, Arkansas artist Kat Wilson has been known for her Habitats series of photo portraits, in which she poses household furnishings and possessions surrounding her subjects. Inspired by Old Masters’ portraits, Habitats, according to Wilson, is “a study of objects people keep dear to their hearts.”

Wilson’s work has been shown in New York, California, and of course, Arkansas, where she has shown four times at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Annual Delta Exhibition, winning a Delta award this year. She has been published in Oxford American, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and others.

I.M. Spa

© Angela Peace

I.M. Spa, located at 25 N. Block Ave, will host an artists reception for Angela Peace Photography. As a full-time instructor at NWACC, Peace teaches Introduction to Computers, Photoshop, and Web Design. In the past few years, however, Peace has become a student of Arkansas wilderness photographer Tim Ernst. “I caught his enthusiasm for tramping the back woods of Arkansas,” writes Peace on her website. “Under his tutelage, I have frozen my fingers for the perfect shot of spring wildflowers, waited for the light to emerge to capture a compelling waterfall, and enjoyed the collegiality of other students as Tim taught us to develop our shots.”

ddp gallery

ddp gallery, located next door to East Square Plaza at 7 E. Mountain, is about to restructure its operations from retail sales to art dealing and special events after tonight’s First Thursday event.

“I’m re-strategizing activities at the gallery,” says owner Dede Peters. “The commercial art gallery world is changing, and I’m following suit. While I thoroughly enjoy presenting exciting art to the public, a rotating monthly exhibition schedule is proving to be too ambitious for one person. I’m looking forward to working closely with artists, collectors and design professionals, as well as producing art events here at ddp gallery.”

To celebrate this change, Peters is offering a 15% discount on almost every single art work in the gallery. In other words, this week is the time to make a purchase to help support the arts here in Fayetteville.

Parking

To ease parking needs, the paid parking lot next to East Square Plaza (to the east) will be open for free parking tonight. There are also two large city lots that are free after 5 p.m. to the west of Block Avenue between Mountain and Meadow.

* We were just goofing around, Mother Nature. We know who’s boss. It’s you. You’re the boss. We promise. Cool?