The Cake Stand Biennale
Jenny Dowd
My cake and cupcake stands made their NW Arkansas debut in the sweetest, coolest event ever - The Cake Stand Biennale! (Check out an article here from the Fayetteville Flyer)
This Fayetteville exhibition put out a call for entries - for artwork to be displayed on cake stands - I missed the call and deadline, but contacted them anyway because I thought it was such a neat idea. They were looking for a few more cake stands to display artwork on, and it just happened that I had several small stands just sitting around cake-less.
I love making cake stands because they are specific, interesting, intricate objects with plenty of decorating options (plus a little silly). And of course, cake stands mean there might be cake or a sweet treat around, but I also love the idea that these stands can elevate any object and make it just that much more special. I really love the idea of cake stands as tiny galleries, what a perfect use when not being used for cake!
This event and exhibition is super short, it started with a ceremonial cake cutting (with my cupcake stand proudly holding up a teeny cupcake!) on the Fayetteville town square Friday late morning. We walked to a few locations with cake stand art before heading back to the studio to work…
Experience Fayetteville on the town square is a host location that had two of my small cake stands - each displayed prints by Jordian Molloy Gillen from Northern Ireland
(Left to right)
We found a piece by Jennifer Diaz at Cheap Thrills Vintage and another by Amberly Schaffer at Block Street Records. A beautiful paper cake by Megan Smith is in the bakery section at Ozark Natural Foods, and Swoon Juice Bar featured a slice-o-pie by Olivia Gallenberger.
(Left to Right)
Several pieces were at the Fayetteville Public Library, three little embroidered hoops by Cooper & Co Goods were at Xuma Kitchens and Likewise Community features a photograph by Kweku Kranpah on my little cupcake stand.
And that’s just a tiny crumb of the cake! I can’t wait for the next one…
Curator’s statement:
The Cake Stand Biennale is a city-wide art exhibition in Fayetteville, AR that celebrates the idea that art can be anything and art can live anywhere! The Biennale will take place over two days (April 1-2, 2022), with 32 local businesses and Fayetteville landmarks as cake stand host locations. The cake stand galleries will feature the work of over 50 artists from around the world. From paper snack sculptures, to traditional functional ceramics, to literal cakes, we’ve got work representing just about every art medium anyone could imagine outside of our cake stand galleries!
For more images and information, follow The Cake Stand Biennale on Instagram: @The_Cake_Stand_Biennale
