Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Naturally Artistic
Artosphere expands, diversifies
Art, nature, music, community, sustainability, conservation… The Artosphere Festival combines and celebrates these elements each summer to raise awareness, as well as provide opportunities for people to experience them in nontraditional settings. Entering its ninth year, the annual festival created and hosted by Walton Arts Center blooms across Northwest Arkansas for the next two weeks.
A NEW THEME
Though the festival has been centered around a thread or idea in the past — recently, reduced paper use, sustainability and encouraging bicycle use — Scott Galbraith, vice president of programming and executive producer at WAC, reveals a thematic through-line has never been so encompassing as “water” will be for the ninth installment of the festival.
“At the same time as we were thinking about how we might want to theme Artosphere, in the national headlines was Flint, Mich., and the Dakota Access Pipeline and the water implications that might hold for the reservation, and things of that nature,” he shares. “So water was very present in our national conversation as we were going down this road, and it just became very evident there was already a theme there, we just needed to recognize [it] and then curate and craft it a little bit.”
That’s not to say every single event and concert will necessarily involve water, but Galbraith admits the theme has extended to nearly every element of the festival — even those that may be unexpected.
“As much as we could, we wanted to push ourselves in that direction. And actually Maestro Corrado Rovaris with the [Artosphere Festival] Orchestra, was looking for opportunities to incorporate water themes or more natural things into the orchestra,” he demonstrates. “So the idea has really permeated the whole festival.”
Building around one theme also opened the door to festival organizers for new opportunities and expansion. A one-day film festival on this year’s schedule grew out of Galbraith’s awe at locally produced, Emmy-nominated documentary “The Buffalo Flows.” Now, four films all relating to water and conservation issues will be presented as the Artosphere Film Series, which will be promoted on an episode of KUAF’s “Ozarks at Large” program, recorded live during the festival.
“We’re staying out of the politics of” water, Galbraith shares. “We want to create that kind of connection of the dots for folks so that more people will be able to walk away going, ‘Got it. I understand why water conservation in the middle of country makes sense.’ It’s getting into layman’s terms the challenges we face regarding our water resources and what we can do here in Arkansas about it.”