OFF THE WALL: Galleries crank up the cool for monthly Art Night

By Werner Trieschmann (Contact)

LITTLE ROCK — July is here. Is there any way to wish it away?

No? OK, then perhaps we can daydream it away - sorry, make that nightdream it away - when downtown Little Rock galleries open their doors and crank up the AC tonight for the monthly 2nd Friday Art Night. From 5 to 8 p.m., you can stroll or, considering the heat, sprint from gallery to gallery to coolly reflect on the artwork on view.

Arkansas Arts Center - At the end of July (we sooo like typing that phrase) the large and impressive “Hot Color Cool Glass” show will be carefully packed up and put away. The whole display, which has more than 120 pieces, is like walking through a candy shop. The neon-bright vases by Sonja Blomdahl might be the sweetest treats of them all. Admission to the show is $12 adults, $10 senior citizens and $8 for children and students. Call (501) 372-4000.

Cox Creative Center - Speaking of impressive, 90 pieces of winning art by students from kindergarten through 12th grade will be on display at the Center’s Showcase Arkansas Gallery.

The Arkansas Educational Television Network, Arkansas Art Educators and Arkansas Department of Education are the forces behind the 2008 Statewide Student Art Exhibit. There will be a reception honoring the young artistsduring 2nd Friday Art Night. Admission is free. Call (501) 918-3090.

River Market Artspace - There is no featured artist for the month of July, but the River Market gallery will have several of its artists on hand during Art Night. So not only can you can see the paintings of Bill and Gloria Garrison, Amy Hill-Imler, Les Waite and Selma F. Blackburn, but you can talk to the creators as well. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-2787.

Hearne Fine Art - The featured artist, Ed Dwight, has rescheduled a book signing from tonight to Aug. 8.

Dwight, author of Soaring on the Wings of a Dream: The Struggles and Adventures of the “First Black Astronaut” Candidate, has mixed-media painting and bronze sculpture on display at Hearne Fine Art. Admission is free. Call (501) 372-6822.

Historic Arkansas Museum - There are five, count ’em, five separate exhibits to take in here, including the “Mid-Southern Watercolorists 38th Annual Juried Exhibition,” “On Second Thought...” which has corrected music manuscripts from the Robert and Angie Boury Collection, and toys from the museum’s permanent collection in “Playthings and Amusements of Yesteryear.” Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9351.

E-mail Off the Wall, the occasional art column, at: wtrieschmann@arkansasonline.com

Weekend, Pages 62 on 07/11/2008