The OZ Art ARkanvas program, curated by JUSTKIDS, is beginning to make its presence known in a handful of Arkansas cities. The ARkanvas program is a program thats main interest and goal is to bring more cultural appreciation for art to multiple different communities in the state of Arkansas. The theme of the ARkanvas is to “unite.”

OZ Art, the organization based out of Northwest Arkansas in charge of putting together the ARkanvas program, describes themselves as a platform that allows artists to unveil their artistic abilities. They are partnered with The Unexpected, another group who works to bring art and culture to Arkansas. The curators of the project, JUSTKIDS, is a women led art curator and art production house that does work all around the world.

OZ Art was created in 2017 by Steuart, Olivia and Tom Walton. OZ Art is bringing in world renowned artists to partake in ARkanvas. While the headquarters of OZ Art is in Bentonville, their ARkanvas program will be in their home base as well as seven other communities in the state of Arkansas. The work that the artists will be doing in these communities will be in the form of murals.

“We wanted to do something to celebrate the arts, support artists and create some excitement in our communities during this incredibly challenging time,” project leader Olivia Walton told ARkanvas.com. “We love that murals bring art to everyone, and we hope that these projects will inspire, spark conversation and promote civic unity.”

Conway is a local destination for ARkanvas. ARkanvas will also visit Rogers, Springdale, Fort Chaffee (Fort Smith/Greenwood), Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Little Rock and Stuttgart. Bentonville has four locations that ARkanvas will be hosted at, including one that is already complete. Conway will be having a mural painted on the Conway block plant, which began on Oct. 21. The Conway block plant is expected to be renovated office space in the near future. The artist in charge of the Conway mural is Alexis Diaz.

“Public art has the ability to be iconic and impact a city’s economy,” Runway Group LLC Vice President told KARK.com. “With a focus on art and culture, people look to experience the creative side of a community like they do here in Conway.” Runway, ARkanvas partner, works to improve the quality of life in Arkansas through different initiatives such as ARkanvas.

The artists of each of these works will be doing research on what type of theme would be most appropriate for the community. In the first completed mural in Bentonville, the mural theme was based around biking because of how much biking means to the Bentonville community.

“When the private sector invests in downtown, the entire community benefits,” Conway Area Chamber President told KARK.com. “And when organizations like OZ Art invest in your downtown, people around the country take notice.”

To keep up with the local ARkanvas project in Conway as well as the other projects around the state, find the ARkanvas website at arkanvas.com.