OWN FIREWORKS IN áYOUR CITY - VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT 40/29 TV DOT COM. THE 4TH OF JULY CAN BRING OUT THE PATRIOT IN US IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. FOR ONE NEW YORK ARTIST - ITS NO DIFFERENT BUT PERHAPS MUCH MORE CREATIVE. MEET AN ARTIST WHO'S PUTTING TOGETHER WHAT HE CALLS THE WORLD'S LARGEST KNITTED FLAG. <> "there's a cultural renaissance happening in NWA I have been aware of it for a little while and I really want to be a part of it."S FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTIST DAVE COLE, THAT MEANS KNITTING TOGETHER THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE. <> " knitting has been part of my practice for 25 years now. It's a really accessible medium and I think art can be accessible and also be good and smart and complicated, but also be uncynical and fun." DAVE HAS HAD PLENTY OF FUN OVER HIS PROMINENT ARTISTIC CAREER. SOME OF HIS WORK IS IN THE SMITHSONIAN. HE'S KNOWN WORLDWIDE FOR HIS INTEREST IN PATRIOTISM AND NOSTALGIA. THIS WEEK, HE WAS INVITED TO THE MOMENTARY IN BENTONVILLE TO CREATE THIS GRAND DISPLAY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG. <> " I have always loved to scale and playing with scale and I am also a big fan of materials and taking the material and pushing them beyond what they are used to doing. Using craft store felt to do some monumental scale projects just seemed like a great idea." DAVE SAYS HE'S PURPOSELY WAITING UNTIL INDEPENDENCE DAY TO COMPLETE HIS PATRIOTIC PROJECT. AND EVERYONE IS INVITED. <> "on the 4th around 7pm we are going to gather back around and finish off the flag and set it up for display and gather at the Tower bar he

Artist is in Arkansas knitting together a giant American flag

Dave Cole is known worldwide for his interest in patriotism and nostalgia

Updated: 2:37 AM EDT Jul 3, 2023

New York contemporary artist Dave Cole is in Northwest Arkansas over the Fourth of July to knit together the stars and stripes."Knitting has been part of my practice for 25 years now," he said. "It’s a really accessible medium and I think art can be accessible and also be good and smart and complicated, but also be uncynical and fun."Cole has had plenty of fun over his prominent artistic career. Some of his work is in the Smithsonian. He’s known worldwide for his interest in patriotism and nostalgia. This week, he was invited to the Momentary contemporary art space in Bentonville to create a grand display of the American flag."I have always loved to scale and playing with scale and I am also a big fan of materials and taking the material and pushing them beyond what they are used to doing. Using craft store felt to do some monumental scale projects just seemed like a great idea," Cole said.Cole said he’s purposely waiting until Independence Day to complete his patriotic project. And everyone is invited."On the Fourth, around 7 p.m., we are going to gather back around and finish off the flag and set it up for display," Cole said, adding that he'll then celebrate the holiday by attending a party and watching fireworks at a local bar.

New York contemporary artist Dave Cole is in Northwest Arkansas over the Fourth of July to knit together the stars and stripes.

"Knitting has been part of my practice for 25 years now," he said. "It’s a really accessible medium and I think art can be accessible and also be good and smart and complicated, but also be uncynical and fun."

Cole has had plenty of fun over his prominent artistic career. Some of his work is in the Smithsonian. He’s known worldwide for his interest in patriotism and nostalgia. This week, he was invited to the Momentary contemporary art space in Bentonville to create a grand display of the American flag.

"I have always loved to scale and playing with scale and I am also a big fan of materials and taking the material and pushing them beyond what they are used to doing. Using craft store felt to do some monumental scale projects just seemed like a great idea," Cole said.

Cole said he’s purposely waiting until Independence Day to complete his patriotic project. And everyone is invited.

"On the Fourth, around 7 p.m., we are going to gather back around and finish off the flag and set it up for display," Cole said, adding that he'll then celebrate the holiday by attending a party and watching fireworks at a local bar.

40/29S KENDALL ASHMAN SPOKE TO MARK AND HIS FAMILY TONIGHT. Kendall Ashman MARK VALENTINE WAS HANGING THIS WREATH WHEN HE FELL O FF HIS LADDER - BREAKING TEN RIBS. TONIGHT - HE SAYS IF IT WEREN'T FOR HIS NEIGHBOR ACROSS THE STREET, HE MAY NOT BE HERE TODAY. Mark Valentine, hospitalized after falling off ladd er decorating for Christmas "thankfully he saved my life, but in the same sie nc if I would have taken 30 seconds before climbing the ladder and said heBJy will you come spot me while I climb this ladder, I wouldn't have spent 24 days in the hospital...." FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, THE VALENTINES HAVPUE T ON THE BENTONVILLE HEART LITES DISPLAY... INSPIRED AFTER A FAMILYRI TP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD. Ma Vrkalentine, hospitalized after falling off ladder decorating for Christmas "we love seeing the kids dancing and singing through the car roofs, and we know from the letters we get that we are touchi people who may not have any Christma" s. AND WHILE MARK WAS IN THE HOSPITAL... NEIGHBORS, AND PEOPLE ACROSS E TH REGION HELPED FINISH T HE LITE DISPLAY THIS YEAR. Mark Valentine, hospitalized after falling off ladder decorating for Chrtmis as "We have been have been touched by a lot of people through this, I would never want to repeat it but it Definity opened our eyes how much our displ ay touches other people ." AND WITH THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY... THE VALENTINE'S SAY THIS YEAR WILL BE THEIR FINAL YEAR OF THE BENTONVILLE HEART LITES. Mark Valentine, hospitalized after fainllg off ladder decotirang for Christmas "admittedly we back up outside out neighborhood and its sometimes a 2 ho ur wait to get in, and now we've reached a pinnacle where its time to move on with a new hobby." AND AS FOR A NEW HOBBY FOR THE VALENTINE FAMILY.... Mark Valentine, hospitalized after falling off ladder decorating for Christmas "just the fact that m I' standing here d Gohas something in store for us. While we know Bentonvie

This month, Hearst Television is celebrating Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. We’re speaking with community leaders, elders – those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today.Virginia Smith Denton, 82, said she was at home with her mom when she learned about the Supreme Court's milestone Brown v. Board of Education decision.The court ruled in 1954 that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.In the fall of 1954, the then 16-year-old and six other teens became the first Black students to attend Fayetteville High School."We weren't scared. We were a little nervous," Smith Denton said.On the first day of school in September 1954, Smith Denton walked to school with her cousins Roberta Lackey and Elnora Lackey.It was her first year in high school and one that would make history.That year, seven Black students joined more than 500 white students, learning together for the first time.Smith Denton said when she and her cousins arrived, they were not greeted by an angry mob, police or weapons.Instead, waiting for them at the entrance were Mary Ann Sharp and Sara Trager — two white classmates Smith Denton would later call friends."We saw them standing out there. We didn't know what to think. But they were so nice, and they welcomed us," Smith Denton said.It was a very different scene than some others playing out in the deep south.Smith Denton said her teachers at Fayetteville High School were welcoming. "They were nice to me. Yes, they were. Well, except for one. I didn't like her. She didn't like me either," Smith Denton said, with a laugh.Smith Denton recalled one incident with a classmate."In my history class, we had this one guy, and the guy told this little (racist slur) joke. So he got suspended. Yes, but he got to come back. He got suspended for a while. They weren't taking any you know what. They weren't going to start that taking no stuff like that," Smith Denton said when asked how she what she remembers about her classmates during desegregation.However, Smith Denton says Black students faced a different reality outside of Fayetteville High School. She said Black families avoided going to several nearby cities and towns after dark."We couldn't go to Springdale and be there up there after dark. We couldn't go to Bentonville. I mean, I think those towns were still kind of, you know, they weren't ready for us," Smith Denton said. "But, now we can go wherever we want. Yeah, you couldn't be there after sundown."Ify Egbosimba, an anchor with sister station KHBS/KHOG, asked Smith Denton what would happen if a Black person went to neighboring communities after dark."They probably would have shot them," Smith Denton said. "You couldn't be up there after dark, but we went through there. I mean, still, we just didn't stop, you know, in the stores because we were going through there to go to Tulsa and stuff. I just couldn't stop. It was kind of bad back then. Couldn't go to Farmington. It was just terrible back then."Nearly 70 years later, Smith Denton still calls Fayetteville home.Her kids and grandkids are also graduates of Fayetteville High School. Soon, her great-grandkids will be, too.Smith Denton said Northwest Arkansas is not the same community it was in 1954, but there is still more work to be done."Some things have changed," Smith Denton said. "I just hope everybody can be as one. We're all God's children. I think that would be a good thing."