Eureka Springs May Festival of the Arts to Celebrate 24th Year

March 29, 2011 - PRLog -- (EUREKA SPRINGS, AR) – Every May, the city of Eureka Springs shines a spotlight on the arts with a month-long festival that celebrates the visual and performing arts.

According to Zeek Taylor, Chair of the Mayor’s Arts Council, “The festival showcases the works of more than 200 working artists that live in our community, and because of the length of the festival and the many venues available, every artist in Eureka Springs will have an opportunity to show.”

Taylor added, “I have participated in the Arts Festival from the beginning and have seen a remarkable growth in the quantity and quality of the events with each passing year. We have worked hard not only producing art, but also promoting Eureka Springs as one of the premier arts destinations in the nation, a well-deserved and now, widely known, title.”

The festival kicks off May 1 with the 2nd Annual Grand Illumination, when the Eureka Springs Downtown Network lights up Basin Spring Park at 7 p.m. All month, downtown businesses and Historic district homes will be aglow with thousands of paper lanterns.
Month-long exhibits and shows are scheduled, including the 2nd Invitational Art Show at the recently restored Queen Anne Mansion’s Garden Level Gallery. Studio 62, Iris at the Basin Park, Zark’s and other galleries will also present special exhibits. Local banks and restaurants will provide wall space for local artists to display their talents.

Free concerts in Basin Spring Park have also been expanded this year. There will be free music outdoors every day during May, weather permitting.

May Festival of the Arts kicks up its heels with what is perhaps the city’s most colorful and festive parade of the year, the ARTrageous parade. It rolls through historic downtown at 2 p.m. on May 7, and it’s free and fun for the whole family.

Gallery strolls, usually only held the second Saturday evening of each month, are scheduled every Saturday night from 6-8 p.m. In addition to free refreshments at participating galleries, each gallery stroll will also include special artists’ receptions and shows.

Once again, the event includes artists and art aficionados of all ages, and Iris at the Basin Park will host the 9th Annual High School Art Exhibit. Students from Eureka Springs and Berryville high schools will present their best works at the gallery.

Eureka Springs School of the Arts will offer spring workshops on Civil War crafts, including weaving, blacksmithing, woodworking and others. Contact ESSA at 479-253-5384 or www.esartschoool.com/for more information.

The Spring War Eagle Mill Crafts and Culinary Arts Show takes place May 6-May 8, and while it’s a bit of a drive from Eureka Springs, the event adds to the feeling of art being everywhere in the month of May.

One of the month’s most festive and well-attended events is the annual White Street Studio Walk, which takes place May 20, 4-10 p.m. Historic White Street is the working address of a large number of local artists who welcome the public into their homes and studios to view their latest works. For more information, call 479-253-9318.

Both culinary and fine arts will be on display this month during “A Taste of Art.” Eureka Springs’ restaurants will host local artists and their works while tempting the public with their cuisine.  For more info visit www.mayfestivalofthearts.com/taste-of-art/.

The month-long festival also includes a concert by the Ozarks Chorale, demonstrations of flute-making and drum-making, the season’s opening of the Great Passion Play, a reprise performance of last Fall’s historical tour, Voices from the Silent City, classes at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, a Plein Air Paint-Out, garden tour, culinary classes, and Africa in the Ozarks, a day of African dance and music with Eureka Springs’ own Yao Angelo and his band Ozakwaba, and more.

This year’s festival schedule is so full that it couldn’t all be contained in just one month. Therefore, the 23rd Annual May Festival of the Arts will conclude the first weekend in June with the annual Eureka Springs Blues Weekend.  Concerts will take place in the City Auditorium and at venues all around town, with free concerts in Basin Spring Park.  For more information and the complete Blues Weekend concert schedule go to www.eurekaspringsblues.com.

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"The Extraordinary Escape," Eureka Springs is an eclectic getaway town in the heart of the Ozarks famous for our art, architecture, unique, locally owned shops, outstanding restaurants, historic hotels, BnB's, beauty, romance, & outdoor adventures.