Join host Lauren Willette and muralist Olivia Trimble from 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, for the next installment of the Arkansas Folklife Web Series. Trimble will discuss her history with sign painting, the ways her practice of this folk art allows for community engagement and activism and her experiences at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, among other topics. This event is free and open to the public, and registration is required.
“Olivia is a talented sign painter representing and creating space for women in a male-dominated trade,” Willette said. “I’m happy to give her a space to talk about the ways she combines this folk art with community service and activism.”
Trimble is a second-generation sign painter and muralist living in Northwest Arkansas with her husband and two daughters. She has spent the last decade working to improve the urban landscape through bright and intentional signs and murals. When she’s not painting, she can be found building neighborhood bonds and strengthening other parts of her community. She serves on the boards of Community Clinic, Second Helping NWA and the Fayetteville Arts Council, and recently served as the secretary for the Arkansas chapter of National Organization for Women.
In 2024, the Arkansas Folklife Web Series will host a variety of guests, including chef Margie Raimondo of Urbana Farmstead and potter Stephen Driver of Little Mulberry Gallery. Recordings of previous webinars can be viewed on the Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts YouTube channel.
Questions about the series may be directed to Willette at willette@uark.edu. Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is a statewide program of the University of Arkansas Libraries dedicated to building cross-cultural understanding by documenting, presenting and sustaining Arkansas’ living traditional arts and cultural heritage.