Fun Family Outings in Northwest Arkansas: 2022 Artosphere Festival features free or low-cost family-friendly events

Walton Arts Center’s month-long Artosphere: Arkansas’ Arts + Nature Festival is full of free and low-cost, family-friendly events. Artosphere celebrates art, music and nature with performances, activities and events at Walton Arts Center as well as locations across Northwest Arkansas.

Each year, Artosphere spotlights artists from around the world who take inspiration from nature, and provides a creative framework for the community to discuss issues of sustainability and environmental awareness. The festival includes outdoor performances, large orchestral concerts and several chamber music performances in special spaces throughout the region and a mix of free and low-cost events.

Whether you are looking for a concert in a garden, a fun art exhibition, performers on the trails or in bars, a free movie series with screenings in new spaces or even yoga with live music, Artosphere has something creative, unexpected and accessible for all. 

For more information about the Artosphere Festival and a complete event lineup, download the Artosphere App from Google Play or the Apple App Store or visit artospherefestival.org.

Schedule of Free and Low-Cost Artosphere Events:

Trout Fishing in America

Gates at 5 pm. Music at 6:30 pm | Wednesday, May 4 | Botanical Garden of the Ozarks

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

This charismatic American musical duo performs folk, rock and children’s music. The band’s broad appeal comes from their ability to connect with whoever is in the audience and their ability to create a full, rich sound that belies the fact that only two instruments are being played. Their recordings have garnered three National Indie Awards, multiple Parents Choice and NAPPA Gold Awards, the American Library Award, as well as four Grammy® nominations. Arrive early for a preshow presentation by StoneLion Puppet Theatre. 

Artosphere Film Series – Emu Runner

7 pm | Wednesday, May 4 | UA Student Programs Theater (Union 4th Floor), Fayetteville

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

Emu Runner is about a 9-year-old Indigenous girl, Gem Daniels, who lives in a remote Australian town. As she copes with her mother’s unexpected death, Gem finds solace in the company of a wild emu. Emu Runner is a story about respecting difference, as it explores the underlying racial tensions in regional Australia and the importance of traditional customs in modern Indigenous culture.

First Thursday Fayetteville

6:30 pm | Thursday, May 5 | Fayetteville Square

Free

This partner event features live music, street performers, children’s activities, food trucks and more.

Trail Mix on the Frisco Trail

5 pm | Friday, May 6 | Frisco Trail, Fayetteville

Free

One of Artopshere’s signature events, Trail Mix is back this year and is an experience unlike anything outside of Northwest Arkansas. Trail Mix returns to the Frisco Trail with live art, music and activities for kids and families. Start at Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios to see Arkansas Pottery Festival’s exhibition of more than 50 artists’ work. Then hit the trails to hear live music from Dandelion Hearts, Papa Rap, mömandpöp, All Time Hits of Carnatic Music by Priya Ram and her students, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem and more. End the evening with an opening reception of the new visual arts exhibition, Sol, in Walton Arts Center’s Joy Pratt Markham Gallery.

The Arkansas Pottery Festival

9 am – 6 pm | May 6-7 | Nadine Baum Studio at Walton Arts Center

10 am – 4 pm | Sunday, May 8 | Nadine Baum Studio at Walton Arts Center

Free

This partner event will feature an exhibition and pottery sale of more than 50 pottery artists from around the state, including masterworks from private ceramics collections. Nationally-recognized artist Bill Jones will lead pottery demonstrations and give a lecture on Friday and Saturday, and a closing lecture will be given by Lawrence McElroy detailing historic pottery production in Northwest Arkansas, followed by a cookout and potluck.

Sol

May 6-31 | Joy Pratt Markham Gallery, Walton Arts Center

Monday through Friday from 10 am until 2 pm, 60 minutes prior to performances and during intermission

Free

A visual arts exhibition curated by Kathy Thompson, celebrating the themes of energy, light and sustainability. The exhibition features an Artosphere-themed sculpture made from recycled materials; five energy-inspired, large-format paintings created by local public schools and community groups; and two pieces designed and created by Walton Arts Center staff that evoke visuals of sunlight in its various forms. The exhibition will also give patrons a look back at memorable Artosphere events and experiences.

Music on the Mountain – Los Veleros

6:30 pm | Friday, May 6 | Mt. Sequoyah Cottage Circle, Fayetteville

Tickets: $12

Presented in partnership with NWA Jazz Society and featuring locally-based Latin jazz ensemble, Los Veleros. BYOB – and don’t forget to bring your own chairs, blankets and snacks for an enjoyable picnic dinner.

Railyard Live featuring Cate Brothers with Handshake Saints

8 pm | Friday, May 6 | Railyard Live, Rogers

Partner event – Tickets at www.railyardlive.com now

Tickets: Free but ticketed event, limited table reservations available for $20

Ernie and Earl Cate, the “Cate Brothers”, have been writing and performing their unique style of rock and soul music for more than 20 years. In 1976, “Union Man” climbed into the top ten on the national charts and was followed by another successful single, “Can’t Change My Heart”. The Cate Brothers’ chart success led to nationwide television performances such as: “American Bandstand,” “Midnight Special,” Austin City Limits, as well as television programs in Canada and Europe.

Yoga in the Atrium

2 pm | Saturday, May 7 | Walker Atrium, Walton Arts Center

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

Join us for a yoga class for all skill levels led by instructor Becky DeClerk with live music by cellist Christian Serrano-Torres. Add-on mimosas for $5 and enjoy after class.

Artosphere Film Series – The Wonderful: Stories from The Space Station

5 pm | Saturday, May 7 | Kalaloka Institute of Fine Arts, Bentonville

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

This documentary covers the stories and experiences of the many astronauts that have inhabited the International Space Station since its launch in 1998. Spanning 42 missions, 230 astronauts, and 230 spacewalks, this extraordinary feat of scientific unification is told through the words of those that lived it. 

Railyard Live featuring Funk Factory with Chris Cameron Band

8 pm | Saturday, May 7 | Railyard Live, Rogers

Partner event – Tickets at www.railyardlive.com now

Tickets: Free but ticketed event, limited table reservations available for $20

Under the direction of Anthony Ball, Funk Factory is comprised of some of the most talented and sought-after musicians & singers in the region. Funk Factory covers a wide spectrum of music from Motown soul to guitar soloin’ rock & roll, from smooth Sinatra jazz to modern pop. They have played and opened for artists including The Platters All Stars, Ben Tankard, Maurette Brown Clark, Joey Williams of the Blind Boys of Alabama and more. 

Artosphere Film Series – Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

8:30 pm | Wednesday, May 11 | Prairie Street Live, Fayetteville

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

Meek flower shop assistant Seymour (Rick Moranis) pines for co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene). During a total eclipse, he discovers an unusual plant he names Audrey II, which feeds only on human flesh and blood. The growing plant attracts a great deal of business for the previously struggling store but also becomes increasingly bloodthirsty. 

Artosphere Film Series – Children of the Sea

7 pm | Friday, May 13 | Mt. Sequoyah’s Bailey Center, Fayetteville

Tickets: Free but ticketed event

Ruka is a young girl whose father works in an aquarium. When two boys, Umi and Sora, who were raised in the sea by dugongs, are brought to the aquarium, Ruka feels drawn to them and begins to realize that she has the same sort of supernatural connection to the ocean that they do, and slowly discovers that Umi and Sora’s special power seems to be connected to strange events that have been occurring more and more frequently. 

Crystal Bridges Garden Party featuring members of AFO

11 am | Sunday, May 15 | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Free

Art and nature collide when Artosphere Festival Orchestra ensembles perform outdoors on the beautiful Crystal Bridges trails. Families can view the exhibitions along the trail, participate in art making, nature and art talks, and enjoy tasty refreshments, local food trucks and more!

Seraph Brass Chamber Concert

6 pm | Tuesday, May 24 | Memorial Park Chautauqua Amphitheater, Siloam Springs

Free

Seraph Brass is a dynamic brass ensemble drawing from a roster of America’s top female brass players. Performing primarily as a brass quintet or sextet, Seraph also performs as a larger ensemble of 10 performers. Committed to engaging audiences with captivating programming, Seraph Brass presents a diverse body of repertoire that includes original transcriptions, newly commissioned works, and well-known classics. 

AFO Off the Grid

7 pm | Thursday, May 26 | Downtown Fayetteville and Rogers

Free

AFO musicians perform pop-up concerts throughout downtown Fayetteville and Rogers in various locations.

Indie Films Artosphere Curated by Fayetteville Film Festival

7 pm | Thursday, May 26 | Starr Theater, Walton Arts Center

Tickets: $15

Includes six shorts narrative, documentary and animated films by independent filmmakers that connect to the theme of nature. Films include Henyo, the Women of the Sea, Soul of the Sea, The 24, Mike the Birdman, Aqua and Hypoxia.

Artosphere 2022 is sponsored by Walmart and supported by Friends of Artosphere and Sustainers Circle. Support for Dover Quartet and Maestro Corrado Rovaris provided by Mary Ann and Reed Greenwood. Trail Mix is sponsored by Bank of America. 10×10 concert support provided by Paul M Angell Family Foundation, Dick & Margaret Rutherford and Micky & Marybeth Mayfield. The AFO Finale concert is supported by Marti and Kelly Sudduth and Peter B. Lane and Barbara Putman.