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Date: September 18, 2009
Contact: Gail Sears, 501-620-6701
Contact: Jeff Heitzman, 501-620-6707

Local artist Donna Dunnahoe has been awarded the honor of being the Hot Springs National Park Artist-In-Residence for the month of September. Donna is a fiber artist that uses the traditional method of coil weaving, the oldest of weaving techniques, to create contemporary basket forms. She also uses her skills in loom weaving, and the spinning of natural fibers, in her work. Applying the disciplines of coil basketry, her current work explores new possibilities in weaving, combining it with ceramics and fused glass. The tactile nature of her art encourages the viewer to see not only with the eyes but also with the sense of touch.

Donna is excited about demonstrating her art in the national park. She states, “Social interaction is an important ingredient in my craft making. In the past, community weavers and spinners performed their craft in the village’s common area, becoming an important focus of social interaction while making the wares for their village. I value the communication that I have with people as I am weaving. I perform and demonstrate my art in public areas such the Gulpha Gorge Campground to allow me to exchange ideas and to listen to the visitors' creative ideas. Hot Springs National Park provides wonderful inspiration for my weaving. The natural colors, woodland textures, and the light and shadows of the canopy create patterns that I interpret in textiles. The Gulpha Creek and the natural hot springs provide inspiration for the glass and ceramics aspects of my work. The woven natural fibers used with the hard surfaces of the kiln-fired glass and clay become new ways of viewing the natural forest landscape.”

Donna demonstrates and teaches her fiber crafts locally at the Farmers Market, The Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs, and at her studio, Dunnahoe Creative Arts. In 2008 The Arkansas Craft School awarded Donna an apprenticeship grant to study under master potters Barbara and Jim Larkin at Fox Pass Pottery. Donna is the president of The Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs. She works and lives at her studio with her artist husband, Hugh Dunnahoe, in Hot Springs. Hugh will be the Artist in Residence for the month of October. Their art created in the Artist-In-Residence program will be displayed at the November Gallery Walk at the Visitor Center in the Fordyce Bathhouse.

The Hot Springs National Park Artist-In-Residence program is open to artists of all disciplines. To apply or get more information, call 501-620-6707 or e-mail HOSP_Interpretation@nps.gov.