A national magazine featuring creative artists and craftspeople from around the country has recognized several Fayetteville artists in its latest issue.
American Craft, a magazine created by the American Craft Council, has a huge piece on the Arkansas art scene in their Oct./Nov. issue already available online and set to hit newsstands this month. Fayetteville artists Mim Wynne, Greg Thomas, Hank Kaminsky, John Sewell, and Ed Pennebaker are all featured in the article.
From the magazine:
Fayetteville. This city is known for the fervor of its college football fans, but you’ll also find a wide variety of artists practicing in all mediums. For the architecturally inclined, Fayetteville is rich in buildings by renowned architect Fay Jones, who lived and worked in the city for much of his life. The Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in nearby Bella Vista is definitely worth the 45-minute drive.
Mim Wynne’s Handmade Market, on College Avenue, sells her woven pillows, rugs, and purses, along with other handmade gifts, home accessories, and gourmet food items from local and national sources. She and her husband, Greg Thomas, a skilled woodturner, both have studio spaces set up at their home in Elkins just outside the city.
The Fayetteville Underground collective, located on the town square, houses gallery and studio space, exhibiting works from its 20-some members, such as sculptor Hank Kaminsky, who came to Arkansas from New York in the early 1970s and found a supportive environment. “It’s a very rich community, full of artists,” he says. “Everywhere we go, there are classes in art and people expressing themselves, and we try to be a part of that vision.”
John Sewell is also a member of the Underground, making sculpted wood vessels. “You just can’t live in this area without being inspired,” Sewell says. “The market is developing. We have Crystal Bridges. Consciousness is developing in this part of Arkansas.” Glass artist Ed Pennebaker is part of the collective, too, though his studio is about an hour away, in the foothills of the Ozarks.
In addition to the Fayetteville artists recognized, the article also examines art happenings in Little Rock, Hot Springs, the Ozarks in general, as well as the the scene around Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
