Jessica Robin is the founder of Mend It, Darn It, a free monthly meetup created for attendees to revive clothing items with provided supplies and expert guidance. Robin grew up in Northwest Arkansas and has been sewing for over 20 years, spending time at the University of Arkansas Theatre Costume Department and at Interform before it dissolved last year. She says the end of Interform prompted her to want to create a space like Mend It, Darn It for community members who want to work on their craft or just give clothing items a second life.

Joel Darling discusses his work at the Medium, which was conceptualized during the COVID-19 pandemic under the moniker “Half Power”.

Katy Kane’s studio space at The Medium is full of her art — finished pieces and works in progress. She’s an artist, designer and practitioner of therapeutic arts. Her work can include collage and take aim at patriarchy, or be vibrant images of tigers or cheetahs. She creates murals for homes and businesses and pet portraits, too.

Katy’s current project, “Art with a Cause,” combines painting, collage, origami and original interviews. Here, in her own words, more about her and her art — including the attraction of assembling collage.

The NWA Fat Fashion Show is taking place later this month at the Medium in Springdale. Katherine Fitzwilson and Annalise Robins are the producers of the show. They spoke with Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani at the Carver Center for Public Radio. Robins is an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas studying apparel merchandising and has hosted fashion shows in the past. She says the idea for a fat fashion show came to her, and Fitzwilson’s online presence inspired her to pursue it.

Brett Pitts is a photographer raised in Fayetteville. After spending his childhood in northwest Arkansas, he proceeded to live several other places, including Alaska, before making this region his now permanent home.

Through the years, Pitts says he self-taught and developed his skills in photography, and the focus of his lens shifted from taking photos as he went, to landscapes, to eventually capturing mutual aid work for the unhoused community in Fayetteville. Pitt says this work was especially meaningful for him.

Xanat Howe is a ceramist from Mexico City. In her new collaborative installation at The Medium, she uses her craft as a way to connect to indigenous Mexican medicine tradition. The installation also includes a soundscape and film by musician Ben Drane and filmmaker Justin Howe.

Multimedia artist Jennifer Baugh’s new interactive exhibit Drum Roll, Please transforms sound, light, and touch into an immersive sensory experience at The Medium in Springdale, Nov. 7–9.

3 Dead Idols, or Tyler Bolden, is one of 37 multidisciplinary artists awarded the grants through the Creative Exchange Fund. The Creative Exchange Fund provides financial support and studio space for Arkansas artists to take creative risks.

Pianist and composer Lauren Sonder will present her felt piano dream show at The Medium in Springdale, part of the Creative Exchange Fund Mixtape series that highlights multidisciplinary artists in Northwest Arkansas.

Artist Lyshell McBride discusses her installation, “Bloom Room,” opening at The Medium in Springdale. The interactive space, part of the Creative Exchange Fund, celebrates healing and resilience for survivors of domestic violence with art, music and community partnerships.

If water remembers, where does it forgive?