The Bentonville Art Walk was a blast! I can’t say enough nice things about the event organizers’ artist hospitality or about the recent developments on the downtown Bentonville square. This little town is becoming very hip, it even offers free wireless internet! I met the owner of the coffee house who is now looking into offering my favorite cold brewed coffee and I got to browse through a teacher’s supply store that was incredible. The old buildings are in great condition and the charm is through the roof. Thanks to the phenomenal success of Bill Walton’s five and dime, lots of people have been moving into Bentonville over the past decade and the town is taking on a new cosmopolitan feel. I met people from all over the world and I noticed that many new small business are setting up shop, including a decidedly hip bike shop. The arts are booming as well, and with the development of the new Crystal Bridges Museum everyone is excited about becoming more involved in art. I enjoyed being in Bentonville and was happy with the sales of my prints as well as the new connections I made to galleries and artists. It was a really fun and successful show for me and I am enjoying the results of focusing my efforts into devloping as a painter. Who knew being focused could be this much fun! I don’t even miss doing the paper, furniture, or polymer clay work, although I am sure it helps to know that I will get to bring out all sorts of supplies for the creativity workshops I will hold in my new studio. Next post, I’ll get a photo of the new window that went in while I was at the show.
2 Comments
I was so glad to read your information on Bentonville, my husband has been offered a job with Wal-Mart corporate office and we have no idea if he should take it. The things you wrote are exactly what we love. We are currently living in Atlanta Georgia and do not want to leave the culture and diversity.
Maybe you should come up to Northwest Arkansas for a vacation and check it out before you decide. You mention diversity as being important to you in your community. I can tell you that this region is not as racially diverse as much of the south, especially a city like Atlanta. There will certainly be things you will miss leaving such a large metropolitan area, but you will also find many benefits to living in this area. Check out Fayetteville and Eureka Springs for cultural events. Good luck whatever you decide.
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