A new performance art festival will make its debut in Fayetteville this month.

The event, called Inverse Performance Art Festival, is planned for April 22-23 at several venues across the region.

The festival is the brainchild of local artist Cynthia Post Hunt and her friend and fellow artist Emma Saperstein of Dallas, and will include a variety of lectures and performances from artists all over the country that have worked with or inspired them.

Hunt said it all started when she and Saperstein were plotting to bring mentors and friends Industry of the Ordinary, featuring Chicago-based artists Adam Brooks and Mathew Wilson, to Fayetteville for a performance.

“Once we figured out a way to get them here, we decided we had to throw a party,” Hunt said. “And it just grew from there.”

The idea, she said, was to highlight some of the local performers, while exposing the Fayetteville scene to some of the other things happening around the country.

Industry of the Ordinary

Courtesy photo

“We thought it was important to highlight the artists that we already have working here,” Hunt said. “But also, we wanted to bring in some of the artists we know to show folks around here what else is out there.”

The festival will kick off with a series of performances at 21C Hotel in Bentonville on Friday, April 22. Performers include Industry of the Ordinary, who will be installing a new piece that evening, along with performance/video artist Emerson Sigman, performance artists Erin Peisert and Jared Mimm, Anya Liftig, Marcella Torres, sound artist Courtney Brown, Márie Witt O’Neill, and local artist and founder of Artist’s Laboratory Theatre, Erika Wilhite.

On Saturday beginning at 8 a.m., a “performance walk” is planned, with artists scheduled at several venues in and around downtown Fayetteville. Performers include Cassandra Davis and Julie Gladstone, Entity, GS Broz, Laura Reese, FUPA, Luke Mannarino, Taylor Cleveland, John Chiaromonte, and Wanbli Gamache performing at sUgAR gallery, Fayetteville Underground, Backspace, The Shed, Local Color, and LaLaLand.

The event returns to Bentonville on Saturday night, with a performance by Beverly Fre$h and Jordan Wayne Long at Crystal Bridges at 8 p.m.

All of the performances are, remarkably, free to attend.

“Performance art can be difficult to describe, and we really want to remove as many barriers as possible so that anyone can see the performances,” Hunt said.

Hunt said several of the performers will carpool on their way to town, and will be hosted by local folks to keep expenses down.

She has raised enough money to cover most of the festival expenses through local sponsorships, but folks who’d like to contribute to the festival may do so through the event’s GoFundMe page.

A full schedule of performances are listed below. For a bit more info, visit inverseperformanceartfestival.org.

Inverse at 21C Museum Hotel

Date: Friday, April 22, 2016
Time: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Location: 21c Museum Hotel, Bentonville
Schedule of Performances
Ongoing – Emerson Sigman
Ongoing -Industry of the Ordinary
4 p.m. – Erin Peisert and Jared Mimm
5 p.m. – Anya Litfig
6 p.m. – Marcella Torres
6:30 p.m. – Courtney Brown
7 p.m. – Márie Witt O’Neill
7:30 p.m. – Erika Wilhite

Inverse Fayetteville Performance Walk

Date: Saturday, April 23, 2016
Time: 8:00am 6:00pm
Locations: Various locations in Fayetteville, AR
Schedule of Performances
8 a.m. – Cassandra Davis and Julie Gladstone, Location TBD
10 a.m.- Entity, Sugar Gallery (1 E Center Street, Fayetteville)
10:30 a.m. – GS Broz, Fayetteville Underground (101 W Mountain St, Fayetteville)
11:15 a.m. – Laura Reese, Backspace, (541 W Meadow Street, Fayetteville)
11:30 a.m. – FUPA, Backspace, (541 W Meadow Street, Fayetteville)
1 p.m.- Luke Mannarino, Backspace, (541 W Meadows Street, Fayetteville)
1:45 p.m. – Taylor Cleveland, The Shed (546 W Center Street Unit E, Fayetteville)
2:30 p.m. – John Chiaromonte, Local Color (275 S Archibald Yell Blvd, Fayetteville,)
4 p.m. – Wanbli Gamache, Lalaland Gallery (641 W Martin Luther King Blvd, Fayetteville)

Inverse at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Date: Saturday, April 23, 2016
Time: 8:00pm 11:00pm
Location: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Schedule of Performances
8 p.m. – Beverly Fre$h and Jordan Wayne Long

Industry of the Ordinary

Beverly Fre$h

Emerson Sigman

Curl (2013) from Emerson Sigman on Vimeo.