BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

The White Street Walk, a staple of the Eureka Springs Festival of the Arts every May, should have celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2020. Instead, due to covid-19 concerns, that event was just a gathering of artists and their work printed in What’s Up!

“For the health of the public as well as our own health, we thought it best to not have the walk during 2020 and 2021,” says Zeek Taylor, one of the event’s three founders. “The crowds during the walk are dense, and that is especially true of interiors where folks gather. I think when we made the decision to not have the walk, we knew it was not the end, but just a postponement until safer times.”

Those times have come. The White Street Walk returns from 4 to 10 p.m. May 2o.

“We decided to have the event this year because the development and release of the vaccine has been a game-changer,” Taylor says. “We the organizers along with participating artists are excited and once again ready to share our art with the public. We are hopeful that attendees are responsible and vaccinated.”

Taylor is, of course, known for his vivid watercolor and acrylic paintings portraying chimps in a variety of human poses; other animals; and gorgeous flowers he probably grew in his own garden. Co-founder Mary Springer has always been known as a figure painter and jeweler but is moving into new work. And Eleanor Lux is a weaver. Springer and Taylor met at the Memphis (Tenn.) Academy of Art, where both were what are now called “nontraditional” students: Taylor already had a degree and had been teaching art, and Springer was looking for “a new life” after her husband was killed in the Vietnam conflict in 1967. Lux had also attended the Memphis school and moved to Eureka Springs first, paving the way for Taylor and Springer to follow.

“We will miss Eleanor being part of this year’s art walk,” Taylor says. “Loving grandmother that she is, she will be at her granddaughter’s high school graduation in Fayetteville.”

The White Street Walk has grown over the decades from maybe 15 artists to at least 40 to 50. Those that don’t live on White Street find niches in driveways, on porches and along sidewalks to show and sell everything from paintings to pottery, clothing to crochet, digital art to jewelry and more. Mini-profiles of some of this year’s participating artists are included here.

While styles change and artists come and go, one thing remains constant at the White Street Walk. Taylor will greet guests in his home with heaps of homemade cookies — the recipe is called “a bushel of cookies” — candy-coated pretzels and about 60 liters of wine. Asked why he does all that on top of creating his own art and organizing an art show, he says simply:

“My mother taught me that all good southerners offer food and drink to their guests, and even though my guests for the evening number in the hundreds, I try to have enough refreshments to serve everyone.”

Meet The Artists

Zeek Taylor

Zeek’s Studio

Location: 12 White St.

“During my first year in school at the age of 5, I won first place in an art contest for a crayon portrait of my mother,” Taylor says. “I drew her hair in circles with a mahogany-colored crayon, and in the picture, I gave her almost perfectly round cheeks with a carnation pink crayon. My prize was a Chick-O-Stick that I devoured during recess. After winning the contest, there was never any doubt in my mind that I wanted to become an artist.”

Describe the art you create: I’m primarily a painter working in watercolor and acrylic. I also do some three-dimensional work in the form of shadow boxes.

What inspires you to make art? I often ask myself that question, and I have yet to come up with a good answer. I do know that I don’t know how to not make art. Perhaps the best answer is that I want to add joy and beauty to the world. The images I create are pleasing, often whimsical, and loaded with color. I hope I’m achieving that goal.

See more: zeektaylor.com, the Curated Gallery in Eureka Springs, Art Ventures in Fayetteville and M2 Gallery in Little Rock. Taylor’s prints, cards, and an art book are available in the Crystal Bridges Museum Store in Bentonville.

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Mary Springer

Mary Springer Art

Location: 33 White St.

“Owning an original piece of art gives you a little bit of the artist’s creativity that is unique and can give you pleasure,” Springer says.

Describe the art you create: Multifaceted. Paintings, sculpture, found and profound jewelry.

What inspires you to make art? Nature and the figure.

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Barbara Kennedy

Location: 10 White St.

“When you have an original piece of art in your home, you not only have a piece that you love, you have a bit of the artist hanging there, too,” Kennedy says. “Every piece has not only the moment in time that it was created, but the years of experience and soul that each artist puts into his or her art.”

Describe the art you create: In early 2020, I experienced an overnight severe vision loss, and I am now considered legally blind. As a result, my painting style has changed significantly. My central vision is very limited, so I work mainly with color, abstract images, shapes and textures. Since I can no longer focus where the brush meets canvas, I have developed a tactile technique for applying the cold wax and oil paint that is working well for me — yes, finger painting!

What inspires you to make art? Everything inspires me. Images emerge from everyday life situations and people, from nature, from my imagination and my dreams.

Contact: Email bkennedystudio@gmail.com

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Mark Hughes

Regalia Handmade Clothing

Location: 16 White St.

Hughes says his first memory of being an artist is “making a skirt for my GI Joe doll out of his parachute.”

Describe the art you create: Original handmade linen clothing, specialty OOAK couture, and retro fashions.

What inspires you to make art? I’m inspired by the materials — fabric will tell you what it wants to be made into. I just listen and sew.

See more: South Main Creative in Little Rock, regaliahandmadeclothing.com and bingbangboomerang.com

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Steve Beacham

Spring Street Pottery

Location: In front of Regalia Handmade Clothing at 16 White St.

“Owning original art gives you an item no one else has,” Beacham says. “It shows a glimpse of your personal taste. It is something that generations of a family can make part of their history. Owning original art can change a person’s perception of the world. It can make you smile or bring tears.”

Describe the art you create: Utilitarian and whimsical pottery.

What inspires you to make art? I love to take a lump of clay and create a piece that can be used or admired daily. It is a connection to a past that may be all that represents that civilization. Pottery endures more than any other art form.

See more: Curated by Le Vie Company, 67 Spring St., and Town Shop, 9 Spring St., both in Eureka Springs

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Jeff Danos

Testube

Location: In front of Zeek Taylor’s Studio, 12 White St.

“Very few individuals in this world can say that they get to make a living doing something that they truly love,” Danos says, “but purchasing original art from an artist can help to make that happen.”

Describe the art you create: Stylistically, there are certainly echoes of surrealism, cubism, brutalism and pure abstraction, but I just like to call it “off purpose” art. My visual arts are primarily produced digitally, by overlaying vector graphics and bits of typography to create abstract and surreal themes that hint at reality.

What inspires you to make art? Like many artists, I’m inspired by the events occurring in the world around me — both big and small. From the latest small town drama to the weight of unexpected life changes brought on by a global pandemic, my emotions drive me to create.

See more: JDanos.com

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Leigh Valens

Valens Adornments

Location: 36 White St.

“Owning an original work of art in any medium transcends the object itself; it becomes a partnership of the artist’s ideas, stories and energy with the personal resonance and meaningfulness to the owner,” Valens says. “To own and enjoy original art is a form of human connection and relatedness.”

Describe the art you create: I create jewelry in different mediums, currently sterling silver, mixed metals and beaded designs. I also do collage work.

What inspires you to make art? With jewelry, the inspiration lies in finding ways to celebrate my fascinations with nature, history and sentimentality in wearable form. In collage, I find a way to express complex feelings and evolving beliefs in visual form.

See more: Fine Art Eureka and Hardcastle Folk Art in Berryville

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Gina Gallina

Location: Zeek Taylor’s Studio, 12 White St.

“There is so much feeling and emotion that goes into original art,” Gallina says. “Mass produced art has not much soul. It’s dead art. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that, art is what you make it, but it’s better to support your local — or any — artist. Help keep them thriving.”

Describe the art you create: Crochet art and sculpture.

What inspires you to make art? Color and challenges.

See more: Right now, Gallina has a giant mushroom on display at Turnbow Park in Springdale.

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Ron Landis

Landis Studios

Location: 34 White St.

“Originally from Denver, I settled in Eureka Springs in 1992 after a 10-year tour of Renaissance festivals around the country,” says Landis. “I’m also a musician and have combined my love of music with my experience as a die engraver to produce an exclusive line of sterling silver fingerpicks and thumb picks for professional musicians.”

Describe the art you create: I am a hand engraver and a medal sculptor. A designer and engraver of coins. I am also a pioneer in a newly transformed version of the folk art known as “Hobo Nickels.”

What inspires you to make art? Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. I just try to keep in the right frame of mind so I don’t miss it when it does come.

See more: landisstudios.net

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Rosie Rose

Rosie Rose Designer

Location: Mary Springer’s house, 33 White St.

“Real art has a soul,” Rosie Rose says. “A person touched it and loved it and breathed it to life.”

Describe the art you create: I do sewing and fiber arts, primarily in the form of fashion, but also some wall art. My specialty is unusual and creative dresses.

What inspires you to make art? I am inspired by nature and art, films, television, pop culture… Specifically with fashion, I’m very inspired by fashion through history, as well as studying the way different fabrics behave.

See more: rosierosedesigner.com

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FAQ

White Street Walk

WHEN — 4-10 p.m. May 20

WHERE — White Street in Eureka Springs

COST — Admission is free; art will be for sale

INFO — Email zeek.taylor@cox.net

FYI — Taylor says: “Parking in Eureka Springs is always tight, but there are various possibilities. Besides parking on the loop, one could park at the Community Center on the corner of Kingshighway and 62 and take a 10-minute stroll to White Street. Visitors could park downtown and ride the trolley up the hill, and at the end of the evening, walk back downhill to their cars.”