BECCA MARTIN-BROWN
bmartin@nwaonline.com
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum is almost as busy as your community swimming pool this summer.
The FSRAM Invitational: “Odyssey” is on show through July 30 with submissions from 77 artists including photography, stained glass, acrylic, watercolor, oils, woodcut, pastel, fiber, rayon.
Free guided tours of the five FSRAM galleries continue at 2 p.m. Sundays with the next installments set for June 11 and June 25.
Hours have been expanded to 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with continuing hours of 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
And RAM Saturdays offer projects “that will be easy enough for children but interesting enough for adults to enjoy as well,” says art teacher Petra Radcliffe.
“I have been an artist all my life,” says Radcliffe, who moved to Fort Smith five years ago from Pennsylvania. “As a youngster, I drew and colored and decorated everything. Now I work in acrylic, collage and assemblage. One of my works just sold in the Invitational show here at RAM! I do a great deal of commission work as well. One of my other jobs is at Cotner Monument, where I add hand etch artwork to headstones. I also lead a small art class at Job Corps in Cass.
“Here at the RAM, we have RAM Saturday every Saturday except the weeks in the summer that we have art camp,” she goes on. “Art camps start July 11 and end July 28. We have three this year, first is ages 6-10 doing a dino diorama, the second is ages 11-14 making something sci-fi out of recycled materials, the third is for ages 15-18 and they will be making selfie booths to install here and at Peak Innovation Center.”
Radcliffe says RAM Saturdays, open from noon to 3 p.m., have anywhere from 20 to 100 participants on any given weekend, admitting, “it has been a big hit with everyone.” This summer’s schedule includes:
June 10 — Suncatchers
June 17 — Slap bracelets
June 24 — Summer flag
July 1 — Vision board
July 8 — Op art
Admission is always free for RAM Saturday, and the museum provides all materials.
Radcliffe also teaches a Paint ‘N Sip class on the third Friday of most months at a cost of $35.
“The Paint ‘N Sip classes have also been a hit,” she says. “We decided to paint famous artists’ paintings, and that has been successful. I paint the example to work from, and we use that as our inspiration. I also talk about the artist a bit to make it interesting and give people some insight to how artists lived and painted.”
The next installment on Aug. 18 will be “The Splash” by David Hockney.
“Van Gogh and Monet have been favorites,” Radcliffe adds. “We have also done Klimt, Max, Munch and others.”
To sign up for the August Paint ‘N Sip, visit fsram.org. No registration is needed for RAM Saturdays.
FYI
FSRAM
Summer Camps
Dinosaur Art Camp — Campers will create fossils, unearth dinosaurs, and make a dinosaur diorama, 1-5 p.m. July 11-14 for ages 6-10. $35.
Science Fiction Art Camp — Campers will be creating futuristic artwork, learning 1960s comic book design, and creating art that is out of this world, 1-5 p.m. July 18-21 for ages 11-14. $35.
Installation Art Camp — Campers will learn about the history of installation art and how it has grown to become mainstream public art, then refine a collaborative vision, collect supplies, and create a hands-on immersive art installation, 1-5 p.m. July 25-28 for ages 15-18. $35.
Register at fsram.org.
