New book shows, tells Eureka tales

EUREKA SPRINGS -- The Fayetteville Public Library will host an artist's reception to honor artist Sean Fitzgibbon on Thursday, July 12 at 5:30pm in Walker Community Room for a sneak peak at his upcoming graphic novel "What Follows Is True: The Baker Years," a documentary/ graphic novel set at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Spring in the 1930s.

Fitzgibbon's current project, "What Follows Is True" is a combination of gallery art and narrative storytelling with a local setting. Focusing on the Norman Baker years (1938-1939) of the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, the artist has been working with writer Kevin Brown to tell the story of these dark years as a documentary graphic novel.

"I first became interested in this story after visiting the Crescent Hotel and going on their evening ghost tour with my co-writer, Kevin Brown," explains Fitzgibbon. "The tour guide discussed the ghost sightings that have made the hotel famous, but the most interesting story to us was not the ghosts, rather the story of Norman Baker, a fraudulent 'doctor' who turned the hotel into a cancer clinic in the late 1930s."

"'What Follows is True' is a marriage of my gallery art and graphic novel illustrations," said Fitzgibbon.

"Using painting and mixed media, Kevin and I are revealing Norman Baker and the Crescent Hotel's story which demonstrates that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction."

Artist Sean Fitzgibbon exhibits work in galleries and art centers throughout the United States, recently including solo exhibitions at Pittsburg State University Gallery (Pittsburg, Kan.), Jasper Community Art Center (Jasper, Ind.), Old Firehouse Art Center (Longmont, Colo.) and Illinois Central College (Peoria, Ill.). He has illustrated books and teaches at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Original art and prints will be available for sale at the reception, with 10 percent of art sales benefiting the Fayetteville Public Library NEH Challenge grant.

Visit seanfitzgibbonart.com for more information on artist or to learn more about the book visit http://followsistrue.blogspot.com/