Fall Art at CALS 2026: Events & News

We are enjoying the cooler air and looking forward to some fun (and free!) art experiences at CALS this fall!

2nd Friday Art Night (2FAN)

October 9, 5-8 p.m.
CALS Main Library, 1st Floor 

Come enjoy our FREE activities! Make your own Dia de los Muertos headbands with artist Kimberly Manriquez and find out about the Creativebug database. All supplies are provided. All ages are welcome. And Mere Li will be singing a mix of American songbook and contemporary songs with piano accompanist Alana Duvall. Come and listen!  

CALS’s new used bookstore, Library Square Books on President Clinton Ave., will also be open during 2FAN.

At our monthly 2FAN event, attendees will be greeted in the Main Library’s first-floor Shaylea Harding Lobby with local artists selling their work, art demonstrations, a craft table, a DJ or performer playing music, and light refreshments and libations.

Arkansas artists will be selling ornaments, paintings, jewelry, greeting cards, clothing, photography, totes, prints, purses, treats, chocolates, pottery, wood, magnets, stickers, and more. You just never know what unique gift you will find! 

PLUS: 2nd Friday Knit Night (part of 2FAN). Bring your WIP (work in progress) and hang out for an evening of social knitting. Don’t know how to knit? We’ll teach you. Supplies provided.  

  (Note: Library services other than self-check will not be available after the library closes at 6:00.) 

Boulevard Bread Company’s location inside the library will also be open with a limited menu, so you can purchase your favorite snack, treat, or coffee.  

Made possible by generous funding from the CALS Foundation and the Windgate Foundation. 

For more information about all downtown 2FAN activities, visit the 2nd Friday Art Night Facebook page.

 Exhibitions on View

Cypress Knees and Tupelo Trees: Works by Cathy Melvin
On view through November 30, 2026
CALS Main Library, 5th floor Exhibition Gallery 

Discover plants and animals of an Arkansas swamp with a collection of original paintings by author and illustrator Cathy Melvin that were used to illustrate her award-winning book Cypress Knees and Tupelo Trees. Published by Et Alia Press in 2023, the book won the Young Readers Award at the National Book Festival in 2024.   

Find out more about Cathy Melvin at www.cathymelvin.com.

From the Vault: Contemporary Crafts from the CALS Art Collection
On view now through the winter months
CALS Roberts Library, Underground Gallery  

As part of our From the Vault series featuring works from the permanent collection of the Central Arkansas Library System, the exhibition Contemporary Crafts from the CALS Art Collection will focus on Arkansas artists who exemplify the creative ability to move artistic traditions in new directions. 

Among many other works, the exhibition will feature examples of woodworking by Gene Sparling and Shep Miers, ceramic arts by Helen Phillips and Barbara Satterfield, basketry by Leon Niehues, and fabric arts by Deborah Kuster and Louise Halsey. 

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) houses more than just books. CALS’s art program also actively collects and exhibits works by artists living and working in Arkansas. The CALS Permanent Collection holds nearly 2,000 works of art and incorporates a wide range of media, including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs, and decorative arts. Works are added to the collection regularly through purchases and donations. CALS displays its own art collection as well as traveling exhibitions throughout the entire library system, especially in the Underground Gallery in the Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art and in two gallery display areas on the first and fifth floors of the Main Library.

Workshops & Activities

We hold free workshops and art activities throughout the year. Here is some fun we had at the Acrylic Dot Painting Workshop with Marlene Gremillion in September.

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Coming up in October!

Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
CALS Main Library

Join art programmer Shannon Holmes during the CALS Day of the Dead Festival for a free drop-in craft/art workshop. We will have scratch sugar skull masks for all ages, and you can color your own bookmark and contribute to our giant collaborative art poster. 

All ages are welcome, and supplies will be provided! Learn more on the CALS website.

Visit the CALS website (opens in new window) for Roberts Library visiting information (opens in new window). For questions about art events, classes, and workshops, contact art programmer Shannon Holmes at sholmes@cals.org or 501-320-5792.

All abilities are welcome at all programs. To request ASL interpretation or other accommodations, call 501.918.3069 or email hzbinden@cals.org seven business weekdays before a program.  

 Art events and workshops are made possible by generous funding from the Windgate Foundation.