Current News

For Immediate Release

March 25, 2021

For More Information Please Contact: 

Email: mzunick@hotsprings.org

Phone:  (501) 545-6960

Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance Announces Songwriting Contest for Spring Arts & The Park Festival

(Hot Springs, AR) – The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance will host a songwriting competition as part of the 10-day Arts & The Park spring arts festival. The contest pays homage to local music legend, and festival honoree, singer/songwriter Henry Glover. Nashville based musician, Tony Stampley, will be the contest’s celebrity judge and host of a live, possibly virtual, show on Saturday, May 1st. Viewers can look forward to a live performance by Stampley, sponsored by Alliance Rubber. 

Henry Glover, a Langston High School alumnus, was a pioneering African American songwriter, producer, arranger, A&R man and musician who grew up in Hot Springs. Later he became one of the first African American music executives, and the first African American producer of country music. A few titles in Glover’s catalog include: “Fever,” “Drown In My Own Tears,” “Blues Stay Away From Me,” “California Sun,” and “The Peppermint Twist.” The Arts & The Park festival will be thematically dedicated to honoring the life and work of Henry Glover at the centennial of his birth. 

Celebrity judge, Tony Stampley, son of country music star Joe Stampley, is a seasoned musician and songwriter with dozens of  major tracks performed by big time country stars to his credit, including 17 songs chosen by Hank Williams, Jr. Stampley will choose the best song based on “the power of the music and lyrics.” Stampley believes that “just because you can’t sing, doesn’t mean you can’t write a good song.”

Contestants can submit up to two (2) entries by completing the entry form on the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s website. Each entry requires a written lyrics sheet and a link to a video performance. The top entries will be chosen as finalists. Depending on Covid-19 safety precautions, finalists may have the option to perform their song live in front of an audience, or use their audition video during the show.  

The winner will be awarded a Glover, the first of what will become an annual award honoring the talents and contributions to the music industry made by Henry Glover.

Arts & The Park festival runs from April 30th through May 9th, with various events and locations in and around the Hot Springs area.

The Hot Springs Area Culture Alliance is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate, advocate, and promote the arts in Hot Springs, Arkansas. For more information about this opportunity visit please visit www.hotspringsarts.org or email mzunick@hotsprings.org.

 

 

For Immediate Release

March 23, 2021

For More Information Please Contact:

Email: mzunick@hotsprings.org

Phone:  (501) 545-6960

Event Lineup Set for Arts & The Park Spring Festival

(Hot Springs, AR) – The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance is ready to host its annual 10-day spring arts festival beginning April 30th and set to wrap up on May 9th, 2021. The festival will optimize community safety by utilizing a mixture of in-person, indoor, outdoor, virtual events, social distancing, masks, and sanitation, kicking off with the two-day Art Springs event located at Hill Wheatley Plaza in downtown Hot Springs, AR.

The two-day Art Springs event will offer the community a long-awaited opportunity to safely socialize and enjoy local art and culture. Visitors to Art Springs can expect to enjoy a Kid’s Creation Station with shadow art freeze dance, live music, a juried art event consisting of 25 booths housed by local artists, food trucks, a Renaissance fair, children’s literacy event, and plenty of hand sanitizer at the socially distanced outdoor event.

Festival goers can expect to follow all CDC and Arkansas Department of Health Covid-19 safety precautions, such as mask wearing and social distancing at all in-person events.

In addition to Art Springs, Arts & The Park will host a songwriting competition dedicated to festival honoree Henry Glover, a virtual cooking class, in-person and virtual artist studio tours, Wednesday Night Poetry, Art Moves: Griots and outdoor art exhibit along Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail, community wide Chalk Walk, and more.

Festival and Event Coordinator for HSACA, Liz Colgrove, said, “When we lost community events this past year, people turned inward and let out their inner artist. Whether it was DIY home improvement projects or finally trying a hobby, when the world was forced to stay in, art set our souls free. Now that we are able to begin cautiously gathering, I think people want to share and embrace the arts that helped them through this past year.”

The Hot Springs Area Culture Alliance is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate, advocate, and promote the arts in Hot Springs, Arkansas. For more information about this opportunity visit please visit www.hotspringsarts.org or email mzunick@hotsprings.org.

For Immediate Release

 

 

March 18, 2021

For More Information Please Contact: 

Email: mzunick@hotsprings.org

Phone: (501) 545-6960

Create, Experience, and Share Art with the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance

(Hot Springs, AR) – The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance is excited to announce multiple opportunities for artists, art lovers, and supporters of the creative economy that will take place during the annual 10-day spring art festival, Arts & The Park from April 30 through May 9.  HSACA is placing a call for artists with three different opportunities, as well as seeking artists who wish to participate in the Artist Studio Tours. 

Art Springs, 5/1 – 5/2, kicks off Arts & The Park’s opening weekend with two days of art, entertainment, food, and socially distanced fun. HSACA is accepting artist and performer applications until April 10th to participate in Art Springs. Interested parties can apply through HSACA’s website:  www.hotspringsarts.org through April 1

Art Moves: Griots, an outdoor art exhibition along the Hot Springs Creek Greenway trail, is accepting artist submissions through April 1st. The exhibition, titled Griots, pays tribute to two local griots, (a traveling historian, storyteller, or musician) Henry Glover and George Hunt. Ten entries will be chosen to be reproduced on to 30” x 40” metal and installed along the trail.  All entries should, in some manner, honor the lives and works of the two men, and can be submitted to mzunick@hotsprings.org. Visit www.hotspringsarts.org for full details. Art Moves: Griots will be free and open to the public from 4/30 through the end of the summer.

Studio Tours, presented by Riser Auto, is seeking artists who would like to share their creative spaces with the public. Studio Tours is scheduled for May 8 and 9. Allowing visitors to catch a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the artistic process, Studio Tours is wildly popular among festival goers.

Soul’s Food is a new addition to HSACA and allows artists to share their talents with some of the most vulnerable members of the community. Local artists will create a one-of-a-kind work of art onto a small canvas supplied by HSACA. The artwork will be distributed by local food pantries along with grocery boxes. HSACA hopes to serve a side of soul filling goodness to people who may need it the most and is looking for artists willing to participate in the program by creating one more piece of artwork. 

The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s mission is to celebrate, advocate, and promote the arts in and around Hot Springs. For more information regarding all Arts & The Park festival events, or the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance, visit www.hotspringsarts.org.

 

 

January 14, 2020

For Immediate Release

For more information, please contact:

Mary Zunick at 501-545-6960 / mzunick@hotsprings.org

CALL FOR ARTWORK

ART MOVES: HOT SPRINGS GRIOTS

A Tribute to Henry Glover and George Hunt

Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance (HSACA), the City of Hot Springs Art Advisory Committee (AAC) and Hot Springs Parks and Trails (HSP&T) are collectively producing this outdoor exhibit of paintings, drawings, and photographs reproduced on metal panels to be displayed along the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail. Artwork submitted should be inspired by the life and art-forms of Henry Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991) or George Hunt (July 6, 1933 – December 4, 2020). Both men grew-up in Hot Springs and eventually became a Griot (a traveling historian, storyteller, musician) using their art to express the joys and hardships of life in the south.

Henry Glover was a pioneering songwriter, producer, arranger, Artist and Repertoire (A&R) Man, and musician. He was one of the first and most successful black executives in the music industry of his time. He was a trailblazer that opened the path for racial and musical genre integration.

George Hunt has long been recognized as one of the top artists in the South and has also gained a national reputation through touring national exhibits. His first love was Blues Music which found its way in to most of his paintings. But George Hunt also created incredible images about Civil Rights, African beauty and the rich history of African-Americans in the South. 

Submitted artwork should be an interpretation of either Henry Glover’s or George Hunt’s life. It can refer to a song or record, their influence in the arts industry, a career highlight, or personal history. Brief articles about about their accomplishments and on-line links are provided at the end of the prospectus.

A panel of jurors will select ten works of art from the submissions to be in the ART MOVES: HOT SPRINGS GRIOTS exhibit. The selected artwork will be reproduced on metal signs that will be displayed along the Hot Springs Greenway Trail. Area galleries will display the framed original artworks during Arts & The Park celebration.

EXHIBIT DETAILS

Exhibit Dates:

Entry Deadline, Thursday, April 1, 2021

Opening Reception, Friday, April 30, 2021

Green Way Trail Exhibit, April 30 – the end of summer, 2021

Original Artwork Exhibit, April 30 – May 9 (2021 Arts & The Park)

Eligibility

  • Regional artists (Arkansas and surrounding states) 
  • 2-D original paintings and drawings, photography, digital artwork
  • Artwork submitted should be inspired by the life and art-forms of Henry Glover’s or George Hunt’s life or art career.
  • Selected artwork will be reproduced on a 30×40 metal sign and the original canvas needs to be at ratio. (9×12, 12×16, 15×20, 18×24, 21×28, 24×32, 27×36, 30×40)
  • If artwork is selected, artist must either furnish a high resolution photo of the unframed artwork or be able to bring original unframed artwork for a scheduled photo session and be able to deliver and pick-up framed artwork for Arts & The Park exhibit.

Fees, Prizes, Commissions, & Copyrights

  • No entry free 
  • Artists of the selected artwork will receive $100 for the rights to reproduce and display the artwork for the Greenway Trail exhibit. Copyright and ownership of the painting belongs to the artist.
  • Winning artists allows HSACA, AAC, and HSP&T to reproduce and publish the artwork for marketing purposes.
  • Original artwork does not have to be for sale to be included in the exhibits. If an artist wants to sell the original during the gallery Arts & The Park exhibit, they will need to follow that gallery’s commission agreement. HSACA, AAC, and HSP&T will not receive a portion of the commission.

Submission: Email to Mary Zunick at mzunick@hotsprings.org • (501) 321-2835

Artist may submit 1-2 artworks. Submit each artwork in a separate emails, each with two attachments:

Attachment #1:  Artwork JPEG, 300 dpi, high resolution

Attachment #2:  Information PDF should includes the following information:

  • Artist name, address, phone, and email
  • Title of artwork, medium, and unframed size
  • Artist biography of 50-75 words
  • Artist statement (referring to the submitted work) of 50 words or less

 

 

September 10, 2020

For Immediate Release

For more information, please contact:
Email: mzunick@hotsprings.org
Phone: 501-545-6960

Eden Restaurant’s Chef Josh Barr to Host a Personal Cooking Class
(Hot Springs, AR)—Award-winning Chef Josh Barr of Eden Restaurant at Hotel Hale in Hot Springs, Arkansas will host a live virtual cooking class on Tuesday, September 30, 2020 at 6 p.m. as part of Arts and The Park, the 10-day celebration of the arts in the spa city. The class will last approximately one hour and include instruction for a cocktail, entrée, and side dish. Chef Barr will demonstrate how to prepare the dishes and will be available for questions during the class. At the end of the class, participants will be able to enjoy a delicious meal from the comfort of their own home.
Those wanting to cook along with Chef Barr can register at www.hotspringsarts.org beginning September 11, but space is limited so early registration is recommended. A shopping list and Zoom link will be emailed to those who are registered seven days prior to the class. Prior to the class, participants will need to shop for the ingredients, all of which will all be available locally. Attendees will also need to assemble the ingredients (which should be pre-measured and ready to cook) and join the virtual class via the Zoom link provided a few minutes before 6 p.m. on September 30. The registration fee is $25 per household.
Josh Barr, Executive Chef of Eden in Hot Springs, AR, first found himself drawn to cooking as a small child while watching his grandmother in her kitchen and knew by ten years old that he wanted to turn the culinary arts into a career. His childhood in Arkansas, where he learned Southern favorites from his family, shaped his Modern French with Southern flair culinary style. He was also deeply influenced by chefs such as Anthony Bourdain, who inspired him to look into the connection between storytelling and food. In 2008, Barr began his training at Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis, where he learned classical and French cooking practices. Chef Barr currently leads Eden’s kitchen, where he likes to unite his Southern upbringing with his classical training.
This culinary arts experience is just one of the many events taking place as part of Arts & The Park, the 10-day celebration of the arts in Hot Springs September 25 – October 4. For more information on this or any of the other events, visit the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance’s website at: www.HotSpringsArts.org or email hsaca@hotspringsarts.org.

Art Moves Hot Springs << Read More!

Arts & The Park << Read More!

Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance Seeks Festival and Programming Director

July 31, 2020

For Immediate Release

For more information, please contact:

Mary Zunick 501-545-6960 / mzunick@hotsprings.org

(HOT SPRINGS, AR)— The Hot Springs Area Culture Alliance, a non-profit organization with the mission to celebrate, advocate, and promote the arts in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is seeking a Festival and Programming Coordinator.  This part-time contract position will be the key management leader for Arts & The Park, a ten-day celebration of the arts that showcases local and statewide artists and includes an outdoor juried exhibition and festival, gallery walk, virtual studio tours, and community-partnered events. Arts & the Park held annually in Hot Springs in the spring, but due to COVID 19 has been rescheduled for September 25 – October 4, 2020. The Festival and Programming Coordinator will be responsible for overseeing the administration of Arts & The Park and other HSACA programming events throughout the year. A job description is attached. For more information or to submit a resume, email hsaca@hotspringsarts.org. Please submit resume prior to August 15, 2020.