MAGNOLIA ARTS EVENTS:
Magnolia Arts sponsors and co-sponsors a variety of ongoing and one-time events for artists and art lovers in and around Magnolia. Listed below are the events we have featured this calendar year. You'll want to visit often for possible updates as new events are added and details are fleshed out.
Coming Events:

October 5-8, 7pm: Magnolia Arts and the SAU Department of Theater and Mass Communications are thrilled to present our joint production of STEEL MAGNOLIAS by Robert Harling. The show will be held at Southern Arkansas University's Harton Theater. Auditions will be held September 1st and 2nd from 7-9 pm.

October and November: OPEN MIC NIGHT will return in October for a special limited run. For a coffee house experience that is sure to surprise and delight, come on out and lend your talents and support.

December 9-12 : A CHRISTMAS CAROL Youth and Adult Feature by Katherine Schultz Miller at Foundation Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Center, Southern Arkansas University Campus: Auditions November 1st and 2nd.

February 10 and 11, 2011: The Magnolia Arts MURDER MYSTERY DINNER returns in 2011 at the Donald W. Reynolds Community Center. Both a fund raiser and a thrilling community event, Magnolia Arts invites you to come out and match your wits against the dark schemes of this year's murderous mystery guest.

March and April: OPEN MIC NIGHT opens its stage to the talents of the community and beyond once again.

March 17th: JAZZ COFFEE HOUSE will be featured in partnership with the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra at the Donald W. Reynolds Community Center. Join us for coffee, dessert, and jazz.

May 21: The 61st Annual SIDEWALK ART SHOW, Magnolia's cornerstone artistic event, once again joins with the festivities of the Magnolia Blossom Festival.

June 2-5: Thornton Wilder's THE MATCHMAKER, a stage production. Auditions will be held April 21st and 22nd.

July 28-31: THE SOUND OF MUSIC with music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hammerstein and based on the book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Audtions June 20th and 21st.

To Be Announced: Guest artist Mark Mothersbaugh from the band DEVO will be presented in partnership with the SAU Art Department.
The Sidewalk Art Show:
Even Before the Steak Cook-Off... Magnolia Arts' largest and best-known event is the Sidewalk Art Show. This annual event takes place every may on the Saturday of the Magnolia Blossom Festival. While sidewalk vendors are selling their culinary delights (i.e. funnel cake, crawfish) and their various crafts, and cooks from around the world are setting up for the Worldwide Steak Cook-Off, Magnolia arts is busy setting up art displays for our annual contest. Artists of all ages and skill levels enter paintings, drawings, and sculpture for exhibition while children are invited to create their own artistic originals are the art table.

Our awards are given in honor of the memories of beloved Magnolia artists Margie Chamberlain, Lynette Estes and Bobo (Mary J.) Shinn.

This year marked the 60th anniversary of the Sidewalk Art Show. We were afraid, for a while, that our special event might be rained out. Even as we were registering our first artists, rain was still dripping off the tent outside. Finally the sun came up and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Participation may have been a little lower than it would have been without the storms, but the quality of the art and the artists would have been hard to beat. Some friends from previous years celebrated the sixtieth anniversary show with us. One local teacher who participated in the very first Sidewalk Art Show dropped in for some of our celebration cake. Ms. Kathy King, one of our winners, was one of Marjorie Chamberlain's many art students. Ann Downs, who did a painting demonstration for our artistic guests is a long-time participant in Magnolia Arts and the Sidewalk Art Show. We hope all of last year's partipants will return and that next year will go even more smoothly.
Open Mic Night:
Our microphone is open at Mules Cantina on the square quarterly, Since its founding by Denise Waterfield four years ago, Open Mic Night has played host to musicians, poets, and other artists of all ages and levels of expertise. Audiences have enjoyed everything from the vocal talents of American Idol contestant Frank Byers to a dramatic reading by author Charlaine Harris. Jerry Barr has sung his soul-stirring ballads, Pat Gladney and Dick's Hat Band have brought back old favorites and some new tunes. Bi-Polar Audio (from Washington state by way of Stamps), Corey Ruff and Honkeytonk Express, and Philip Wade and his MG Rhyming Revue have all graced our stage. Shannin Schroeder and her cadre of angst-ridden young poets have shared their inspirations with us. We have watched the growing piano talents of Lucas and Abby Young. If you haven't visited Open Mic Night before, watch for the announcements. Come out and listen or, better yet, take part. You never know who you will see.
Community Theater Productions:
Magnolia Arts Children's Theater delights children and parents alike with children's productions like "How to Eat Like a Child" and "Beauty and the Beast." (pictured above), last summer's production of Oliver, and December's delightfully whacky production of The Santaland Diaries.

The 2010 summer season featured The Wizard of Oz (Youth Production: Ages 7-17) on June 3-6 at Foundation Hall in the SAU Reynolds Center. A This version of Baum's beloved fantasy classic was adapted by Katherine Schultz Miller.

This fall we're looking forward to two exciting productions. Steel Magnolias will be featured in October and A Christmas Carol will be performed in December.

The new year will bring an exciting slate of productions starting with a Murder Mystery Dinner in February, Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker in June, and The Sound of Music in July.