For this year’s Spring Arts & Culture Festival, NorthWest Arkansas Community College featured ceramicist Chrystal O’Boyle, who shared her 12 years of unique artistry with an audience of art lovers. O’Boyle has a strong passion for ceramics and said she was “honored to be selected and gladly accepted the invitation” for the festival.
O’Boyle was born and raised in Fayetteville and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in art education at the University of Arkansas. Currently, she’s an artist in residence at the Community Creative Center and will hold a solo exhibition in May.
During O’Boyle’s seminar, she demonstrated this year’s SACF theme of connection by emphasizing how her art pieces not only built her connections throughout the country but also built connections to her audience. As she talked about developing her artistic style, she continuously mentioned how her sculptures capture specific moments in time by the way they are positioned or by their actions.
O’Boyle’s 3D sculptures are made in different scale sizes and are full of details that create opportunities for her audiences to interact with them, such as stepping in to get a closer look. While her sculptures are inanimate, in those moments, they speak thousands of words to her viewers who find connections between themselves and her artwork.
Tabitha Darrah, ceramics instructor at NWACC, nominated O’Boyle for the featured artist lecture and submitted her name to the festival committee. Darrah also introduced O’Boyle to the audience before her lecture, “Shaping Connections.” Darrah said, “Chrystal’s journey is all about connections—making new ones and returning to previous ones. Her work explores connections, those gestures, thoughts, and moments that seem singular but are in fact an action we share with individuals—those moments of similarity tie us together to create connections.”
Alongside mentioning her works of art, O’Boyle also discussed the behind-the-scenes of her ceramic sculptures. She went into detail about her processes, which was a helpful segment of her lecture for students and individuals interested in ceramics. Some of her work processes include using silicone molds, firing techniques on sculptures, and cold finishes/surfaces on ceramic pieces.
After the lecture, some suggested that her words were just as inspirational as her sculptures. Astrid Hercules, a student studying psychology at NWACC, said, “From this event, it feels more obtainable to be an artist from seeing someone be successful, especially someone who’s local and around our age.” Additionally, Lee Madrid, a student studying fine arts said, “I recently started sculpting, and I like to see other people’s processes because, for my sculptures, I struggled a lot. So, seeing how other artists navigate their prompts and ideas is helpful to learn.”
The student responses may show how impactful the artist’s journey and work are on others. As stated by O’Boyle herself, “I hope students were able to see that pursuing a life in the arts is possible and accessible to them.”
Those who would like to see more of Chrystal O’Boyle’s artwork can view her solo exhibit May 7-May 31 at the Community Creative Center in Fayetteville. Additional information is available under the heading “Upcoming” at https://communitycreativecenter.org/mccoy-gallery/.
