An interactive art exhibit — Murphy Arts District’s first one — will open in February 2020 at the First Financial Music Hall.
The free exhibit, called “AstroZone: An Interactive Art Experience,” will feature painted inflatable sculptures by Chicago-based artist Claire Helen Ashley. The exhibit is a partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
MAD CEO Terry Stewart said in a press release that the organization and Crystal Bridges has been discussing a collaborative partnership for a while.
“Even before the opening of MAD, we’ve all had a collective vision of diversifying our programmatic offerings beyond the performing arts and our culinary experiences,” Stewart said.
MAD chief marketing officer Bob Tarren said Crystal Bridges’ curatorial and leadership staff worked with MAD to figure out what the the El Dorado audience would respond to and find interesting.
“We are really, really excited. Our mission is to provide a variety of arts and entertainment offerings. I might even say culturally art and entertainment offerings,” Tarren said. “This is right in the middle of the wheelhouse there of expanding what we bring to the public.”
Ashley will have a special presentation about the exhibit at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 that’s free and open to the public, and hold a workshop for advanced placement students at El Dorado High School Oct. 23.
At the presentation, Ashley will discuss the background of the exhibit, her creative process and what visitors can expect, according to the release.
Gay Bechtelheimer, former El Dorado Public School Educator of the Year (2014), is working with El Dorado Public Schools to integrate Arkansas Curriculum Framkeworks with the exhibition.
“I think it’s important to note that the exhibit appeals to all learning styles,” Bechtelheimer said.
Bechtelheimer said the programming, at the moment, will emphasize literacy through general academic vocabulary and domain specific words, as well as the gifted and talented program and the art departments at each school.
AP students at El Dorado High School will work in small groups with Ashley to create inflatable sculptures that will be on display in the atrium, Bechtelheimer said. She said the students have already been given prompts to discuss in class.
The release also states the exhibit is site-specific and that Ashley spent time in El Dorado to “develop her sense of place.” The exhibit, which will be accompanied by audio and lighting experiences, was influenced by Ashley’s “futuristic visions of extraterrestrial life forms and alien landscapes,” as well as bioluminescent organisms, Aurora Borealis, 3D printed Martian habitats, cocoons, asteroids, Sci-Fi, invertebrates, jellyfish blooms, Star Trek episodes, astrological chartes, weather balloons and more, according to the release.
“I seek out moments where body-scape (human, animal and alien) and landscape (land, sea and outer-space) meet in my work,” Ashley said in the release. “For ‘AstroZone,’ I encourage a sense of wonder and curiosity of the other, welcoming people into an uncanny oddball world that is both extra-terrestrial and utterly kitsch. I want people to recall the experience of looking up at natural phenomenon in the night sky, or deep down in the ocean, but that they also sense something else in the experience.”
There will also be two choreographed performances in conjunction with the exhibit, and there will be a special performance opening night. One of the performances will be live performance art with accompaniment from one of the inflatable sculptures, Tarren said, although he said he didn’t want to give too much away.
The exhibit will open Feb. 1, 2020 and run through April 4.
“We want everyone in el dorado, everyone in the area, Union County and beyond to experience this — and so does Crystal Bridges,” Tarren said. “We hope that greater El Dorado and the whole region embraces this and joins us in launching a long-term relationship with Crystal Bridges. And seeing the pictures and drawings of the exhibition, I can tell you it’s going to be fun.”