CB to You Mobile Art Lab: Rogers

Energizing Community Through Art!

Rogers, the CB to You Mobile Art Lab is coming to your neighborhood!

Join us this September at the Rogers Public Library for four days of creativity and conversation focused on energizing communities through art. Each day of the visit will feature different activities and artists, as well as pop-up performances throughout the evening and weekend.

From artmaking and Storycircles to artist talks and live studio demonstrations, this traveling celebration of creativity promises to bring a little bit of inspired fun to everyone. Each stop will culminate in a free outdoor concert and community art showcase.

Join us in celebrating your hometown by creating art, stories, and memories together!

Free, no registration required.

Wednesday, Sep 8

Artist: Trinity Kai

2 – 6 PM: Drop-in Studio and Artist Demo

Artmaking: Cyanotype

Thursday, Sep 9

Artist: Trinity Kai

2 – 6 PM: Drop-in Studio and Artist Demo

Artmaking: Clay

4 – 6 PM: Pop-up Performance w/Craig Colorusso

5 -6 PM: Storytelling w/ Brody Parrish Craig, Ozark Poets and Writers Collective

Friday, Sep 10

Artist: Tay Butler

11 – 4 PM: Drop-in Studio and Artist Demo

Artmaking: Collage

4 – 4:45 PM: Storytelling w/ Caroline Ezell, Open Mouth Reading Series

Saturday, Sep 11

Artist: Markeith Woods

11 AM – 4 PM: Drop-in Studio and Artist Demo

Artmaking: Painting

2 PM: Storytelling w/ Akau Anyieth, Poetic Justice: Speak Your Jewel!

5 PM: Live Music w/ Straight Facts, presented by Music Moves

Wednesday, September 8

Activities from 2 to 6 PM

Artist of the Day: Trinity Kai

Trinity will be at the library from 2 – 6 PM and will be introducing guests to a cyanotype activity using light-sensitive prepared paper and community-based objects. Following the art activity, Trinity will lead an artist discussion inspired by her own experiences with community, belonging, and resilience.

Trinity creates work using her own personal narrative and examines systems of discrimination that exist within society. She creates through self-portraiture, written language, and materiality to share her experiences and bring viewers into conversations that can be reflective and transformational.

Thursday, September 9

Activities from 2 to 8 PM

Artist of the Day: Trinity Kai

Trinity will be at the library from 2 – 6 PM and will be introducing guests to an art activity involving air-dry clay at. The demonstration will be an exploration of clay and how it behaves through negative and positive carving of clay. Following the art activity, Trinity will lead an artist discussion inspired by her own experiences with community, belonging, and resilience. Before you go, don’t forget to grab your free take-home art kit!

Trinity creates work using her own personal narrative and examines systems of discrimination that exist within society. She creates through self-portraiture, written language, and materiality to share her experiences and bring viewers into conversations that can be reflective and transformational.

An extra pop-up performance will be given by artist Craig Colorusso! Craig will perform Ladybug Cathedral at the library from 4 – 6 PM! Using a bowed guitar, Craig’s Ladybug Cathedral is a long, slow, and deliberate performance that invites listeners to just listen and let the sound wash over them. Craig is a sound-based artist whose explorative work extends beyond sound and utilizes light and sculpture. In the past five years, Colorusso has combined his interests in the permanent and semi-permanent works: Sound Swings, Moon Pod, Covered Bridge ONE, and The Tunnel.

After the artist hours, an artist from the Ozark Poets and Writers Collective will be our featured storyteller from 5 -6 PM to cap off the night! The OPWC is a non-profit organization devoted to the joys of the spoken and written word and is based in Fayetteville, AR. They support and promote community involvement by providing various opportunities for poets and other community members.

Their featured poet, Brody Parrish Craig,  will share readings of their own work while guiding a storytelling circle, encouraging guests through activity prompts and storytelling to participate in writing and sharing stories about their experiences in their own communities.

Brody is a creator, educator and author of Boyish (Omnidawn 2021). They are the editor of TWANG Anthology, a collection of creative arts from transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming folks throughout the south & Midwest US.

Friday, September 10

Activities from 11 – 5 PM

Artist of the Day: Tay Butler

Tay will be at the library from 11 AM – 4 PM and will be introducing guests to a collage-based art activity that involves magazines and cardstock.  Following the art activity, Tay will lead an artist discussion inspired by his own experiences with community, belonging, and resilience.

He works in photography, collage/assemblage, video, music, and sound exhibitions and installations. Tay is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work layers both the present-day and archival Black experience, as well as the histories, realities, and theories that influence those experiences.

After the artist hours, Caroline Ezell from the Open Mouth Reading Series will be our featured storyteller from 4 – 4:45 PM to cap off the night!

Caroline Ezell is a florist, filmmaker, and iconic former waitress/dropout living in Northwest Arkansas. She prefers poetry that is derealized, wry, and film-like. Interests include flowers, poker, psychoanalysis, cloistered female insanity, tragic celebrity, conspiracy, dinner parties, and her pets, Zuzu and Dirtbike.

Open Mouth Reading Series is a community-based literary organization located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. They have partnered with local organizations to bring engaging and creative events, programming, experiences, exchanges, content, and dialogues to Northwest Arkansas. OM hosts monthly readings and writing workshops as well as many other writing and engagement opportunities for poets and community members. Their featured poets will share readings of their own work while guiding a storytelling circle, encouraging guests through activity prompts and storytelling to participate in writing and sharing stories about their experiences in their own communities.

And of course, don’t forget to grab a free art kit to take home with you!

Saturday, September 11

Activities from 11 AM – 5 PM

Artist of the Day: Markeith Woods

On Saturday, we have a day full of artists and performances! Kicking off the fun-filled day will be our artist-of-the-day, Markeith Woods! Markeith will be at the library from 11 AM – 4 PM and will be introducing guests to a painting and figure drawing activity inspired by portraits of community members. Following the art activity, Markeith will lead an artist discussion inspired by his own experiences with community, belonging, and resilience.

Markeith is a portraitist who is interested in human character and uses symbols, words, and images to recreate his experiences. He uses many mediums, such as charcoal, graphite, acrylic, and pastels, to observe the subjects that interest him.

At 2 PM, an artist from the Poetic Justice: Speak Your Jewel! will be our featured storyteller of the day! Their featured poet, Akau Anyieth, is a science teacher and an artist. He will share readings of his own work while guiding a storytelling circle, encouraging guests through activity prompts and storytelling to participate in writing and sharing stories about their experiences in their own communities.

Akau believes in the power of hands-on learning when it is immediately applicable in the real world. Akau has also studied animation for 5 years and hopes to one day open all-Black animation studio that features all-Black and African cartoons and creators.

Poetic Justice: Speak Your Jewel! is sponsored by the local nonprofit organization Light House Solutions. Speak your Jewel is a diverse group of Social Artists within the NWA area. They come from all different walks of life to spark courage and participation within the community. Their artists are known for activating their jewels through dance, poetry, singing, painting and acting to deliver the power of their stories. Their mission is to help people believe humanity and divinity are one within us and their mantra is: You must never suffocate the genius that lies within you.

For the finale of the tour, CB to You invites you to a live music gathering at 5 PM by Straight Facts, presented in collaboration with Music Moves.

Straight Facts is the University of Arkansas’s new jazz trio led by Jake Hertzog, Lauren Clare, and Asher Perkins, hosting an eclectic mix of jazz of sounds.

Don’t forget to pick up a free art kit to take home with you!

The CB to You Mobile Art Lab is a traveling pop-up art experience energizing the power of community through art. Featuring regional artists from across Northwest Arkansas, the art lab will be visiting local libraries and festivals around the region to bring artmaking, music, storytelling, and more. Find out more about the program, see a full schedule of stops, and get to know our guest artists here!

The CB to You Mobile Art Lab is presented in partnership with Ziba Rijabi, Markeith Woods, Lakisha Harper Bradley, Trinity Kai, Tay Butler, and Junli Song. Pop-up performances will be performed by Papa Rap’s the fun love drum line, Craig Colorusso’s Lady Bug Cathedral Sessions, and Music Moves. Story sharing events are presented with Ozark Poets and Writers Collective, Open Mouth Reading Series, and Poetic Justice: Speak Your Jewel!