Flyer Guide: Artosphere Festival

In January, Walton Arts Center officials announced the first annual Artosphere festival, a five week regional arts festival dedicated to celebrating artists influenced by nature who “inspire us to live more sustainable lives.”

The festival kicks off officially this week, and theres are tons of theatre, music, and visual arts events scheduled all over Northwest Arkansas, beginning on Thursday, April 22 and running through the end of May.

Lots of the following events will be popping up on our calendar and daily to-do’s over the next several weeks, but for those of you who like to plan a little further in advance, we thought it would be nice to publish a preview of all of the Artosphere-related events to come.

April

Beyond Sublime: Changing Nature
When: Thursday, April 22, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Exhibition Opens)
Where: Joy Pratt Markham Gallery
Description: Curated by Andrea Packard, this exhibit inaugurates the work in diverse media by five pre-eminent artists Emmet Gowin, Eileen Neff, Paula Winokur, Eric Aho and Stacy Levy, who offer transformative visions of our relationship to nature.

Stacy Levy Lecture- The Gristle of Nature: Making Art in Leftover Places
When: Thursday, Apr. 22, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Where: University of Arkansas Fine Arts Building (Room 213)
Description: A lecture by installation artist Stacy Levy

May

First Thursday on the Fayetteville Square
When: Thursday, May 6, 5 p.m.
Where: Fayetteville Square
Description: Artosphere will take care of the entertainment during Fayetteville’s First Thursday event, with music by Harmonious Wail, and a film entitled “A Man Named Pearl,” as part of the Artosphere Film Series presented in partnership with the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks

Joe Martin Stage Race with music by Sauce Boss
When: Sunday, May 9, 12:30 p.m. -3 p.m.
Where: Walton Arts Center Bradberry Amphitheater & Rose Garden
Description: Music (and cooking) by Sauce Boss. The guy plays the blues, and makes gumbo at the same time on stage. At the end of the show, everyone eats? Yup. During the criterion of the 33rd annual Joe Martin Stage Race.

MOMIX – Botanica
When: Friday, May 14, 8 p.m. and May 15, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Where: Baum Walker Hall (All tickets: $16)
Description: MOMIX combines imaginative athletic movement, riveting music, inventive costumes, large-scale puppets and props, projected imagery and spellbinding choreography to create a world of surrealistic images and childlike wonder brought to life by a cast of dancer-illusionists. MOMIX will also have Master Class for different ages and dance levels.

Artosphere Open Studio Day with NWACCC
When: Saturday, May 15, 1 p.m. -5 p.m.
Where: Nadine Baum Studios
Description: Artists from Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center host how-to work shops.

Artosphere Trail Mix Concert Tour
When: Sunday, May 16, 1 p.m. -3 p.m.
Where: Lake Fayetteville Trails/Fayetteville North Shore
Description: The day-long musical journey will include a series of five concerts along the nature trail as you hike or bike around Lake Fayetteville, a Farmers Market hosted by The Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks as well as many other activities for children and adults, culminating with performances by Swing DeVille, Nilson Matta and Brazillian Voyage Trio, Plastic Musik, Chase Missy, and Claire Holley with Ben Harris, and the reigning Pied Piper of family music, Dan Zanes.

Artosphere Family Day at the Gardens with Dan Zanes in Concert
When: Sunday, May 16, 3 p.m.
Where: Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks
Description: Live music, food, visual arts and learning activities for the family.

Mary Oliver Reading & Book Signing
When: Tuesday, May 18, 7 p.m.
Where: Baum Walker Hall (Tickets start at $13)
Description: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver shares her poetry, essays and chronicles of the natural world with a one-hour poetry reading followed by an audience Q&A session and a book signing.

The Man Who Planted Trees
When: Friday, May 21, 7 p.m. & Saturday, May 22, 11 a.m. & 4 p.m.
Where: Starr Theater (All tickets $6)
Descrption: Based on the beloved fable and book by Jean Giono, this play is a unique blend of comedy and puppetry that tells an inspiring ecologically oriented tale.

Jim Brickman’s Beautiful World Tour
When: Saturday, May 22, 8 p.m.
Where: Baum Walker Hall (Tickets start at $21)
Description: The two-time Grammy-nominated Jim Brickman takes fans on a very special musical journey playing hits like “Valentine,” “Love of My Life,” “If You Believe,” “Never Alone” and more!

The Butterfly Garden (Farfalle) by TPO
When: May 26 – May 30 (7 performances) (All tickets $6)
Where: Starr Theatre
Description: Follow the life of the butterfly with one of Italy’s leading children’s theater companies in this virtual theater experience for the eyes, ears, knees and toes. A unique learning opportunity for children ages 2 and up to follow the life of a butterfly.

The Indigo Girls
When: Wednesday, May 26: Gates open at 6 p.m., music starts at 7:30 p.m.)
Where: Arkansas Music Pavilion at the Northwest Arkansas Mall (Tickets start at $15)
Description: Grammy® Award-winning American folk rock duo returns to Northwest Arkansas.

The Artosphere Chamber Music Series: The Nature of Guitar
When: May 19 – 28 (see the full schedule of artists and appearances)
Description:This unique series of concerts, under the direction of pre-eminent guitar virtuoso Christopher Parkening, showcases extraordinary musicians in intimate and awe inspiring settings, and features repertory reflecting a musical journey through the natural environment. Featuring performances by Virginia Luque (guitar), Tim Callobre (guitar), andPablo Sainz Villagas (guitar) with Vocalist Laetitia Spitzer.

Theater Squared New Play Festival
When: May 21 – 23 at Studio Theater
Description: For three days in May 2010, professional and community artists will come together in Northwest Arkansas for a one-of-a-kind festival curated by TheatreSquared, and give voice to new work by some of the brightest lights shining in playwriting today. Audiences in Northwest Arkansas are invited into the rehearsal hall for a look behind the scenes–and to take part in the process. See next year’s runaway hit this year, and give your feedback to the artists and playwrights. Soon enough, you could be saying, “I was there when…”

Elsewhere in NWA

Eureka Springs Arts Festival
When: May 1 – 29
Where: Basin Street Park, Eureka Springs
Description: Each May for 22 years, the city of Eureka Springs has honored the creative urges of all our residents (about 2300) and tens of thousands of visitors who join us in what has come to be called the May Festival of the Arts – a month long celebration where you are bound to find art around every corner in Eureka Springs.

Looking at Our Landscape
When: April 1 – May 30 at
Where: Crystal Bridges at the Massey, Bentonville
Description: Looking at Our Landscape is an exhibition of photographs taken by the residents of Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties in Arkansas. These four counties, often referred to as Northwest Arkansas, are undergoing rapid transformation caused by a number of economic and environmental factors. Regardless of whether change comes as improvements or destruction to land and structures, the need exists to document our changing landscape

The Secret Garden
When: April 30-May 2, 6-8 p.m.
Where: Rogers Little Theater, Rogers
Description: This enchanting classic of children’s literature is now a brilliant musical by a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. Orphaned in India, an 11 year old girl returns to Yorkshire to live with an embittered, reclusive uncle and his invalid son. The estate includes a magic locked garden. Flashbacks, dream sequences, a strolling chorus of ghosts, and some of the most beautiful music ever written for Broadway dramatize The Secret Garden’s compelling tale of regeneration—a treasure for children and adults