Category Archives: Visual Art

Tonight – Clinton School and UA Little Rock present program on The Struggle in the South mural

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Today (January 16) at noon, UA Little Rock officially cuts the ribbon on the new UA Little Rock Downtown campus in the River Market district.

Tonight at 6pm, the Clinton School Speaker Series in conjunction with UA Little Rock presents a panel discussion on the Joe Jones mural, “The Struggle in the South” which is featured in that new space.  It will take place in the UA Little Rock Downtown location.

In 1935, famed American artist Joe Jones created “The Struggle in the South,” a provocative depiction of Southern sharecroppers, coal miners and a black family in fear of a lynching.

Originally painted in the dining hall at Commonwealth College near Mena, Arkansas, this 44-by-9-foot work was recently restored with a $500,000 grant from Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Center.

During this program, moderator Senator Joyce Elliott will join Brad Cushman, UA Little Rock Department of Art and Design Gallery director and curator; author Guy Lancaster; Dr. Brian Mitchell, UA Little Rock professor of history; Dr. Bobby L. Robert, former UA Little Rock archivist and Central Arkansas Library System executive director; and Taemora Williams, UA Little Rock student, to discuss the artwork’s historical significance and importance of its new home in UA Little Rock Downtown’s reflection room.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

One month left to submit for Arkansas Arts Center’s 61st Annual Delta Exhibition

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The deadline to submit art for the Arkansas Arts Center’s 61st Annual Delta Exhibition is February 13. That means there is still one month remaining.

The Annual Delta Exhibition presents a vision of contemporary art in the American South. Founded in 1958, the exhibition provides a unique snapshot of the Delta region.

The Delta Exhibition reflects the region’s strong traditions of craftsmanship and observation, combined with an innovative use of materials and an experimental approach to subject matter.

A guest juror will select the artworks to be exhibited and assign the $2500 Grand Award and two $750 Delta Awards. Additionally, a $250 Contemporaries Award will be selected by the Contemporaries, an auxiliary membership group of the Arkansas Arts Center.

The exhibition is open to all artists who live in or were born in one of the following states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Art must be original, completed in the last two years, and not previously exhibited at the Arkansas Arts Center.

For guidelines and the entry form, visit here.

Book Signing, Art Exhibit celebrating “Winston the Pony” book tonight at CALS Hillary Clinton Children’s Library

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Image result for winston the pony goes to a partyThe CALS Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center is hosting an exhibit opening and book signing this evening from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

It features Nancy Pruitt and Morgan Herndon, Pruitt is the author of Winston the Pony Goes to a Party. Herndon illustrated the book.

As Pruitt writes, “Winston is a little rescue pony who came to live with us on a snowy January day. It did not take long for him to turn our farm upside down and find his way into our hearts. His big personality and barnyard antics have led to his first book, Winston the Pony Goes to a Party.”

Refreshments will be crafted by Leave It To Liz.

2nd Friday Art Night – Matt McLeod Fine Art Gallery

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Image may contain: 3 peopleShop, Sip and Save!

Stop by Matt McLeod Fine Art Gallery on Friday 1/11/19 for Second Friday Art Night and save up to 30% on select artwork!

Come have a cup of new years cheer and browse some great art.

Marked artwork is up to 30% off!

2nd Friday Art Night – Historic Arkansas Museum offers Dave Miller and Rocktown Revival

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There may not be a Nog Off this month, but 2nd Friday Art Night at HAM still offers a lot of fun!

Historic Arkansas Museum is kicking off the first 2nd Friday Art Night of 2019 with Little Rock’s Dave Miller and Rocktown Revival!

Miller is a musical storyteller, evoking images of places and relationships in the Sotuh and who “entertains audiences with his ready wit and warm expression of a kind of Ozark-bred joy and wonder.”

The Water Buffalo and Buffalo Brewing Company will be serving up the brew for the evening.

Exhibits at the museum include:

  • Face to Face: Contemporary Portraits
  • More or Less: Liz Smith & Katherine Strause
  • History in Color: The Spectrum of Daily Life in Early America

2nd Friday Art Night – The Rep features the art of Doris Williamson Mapes

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Image may contain: mountain, cloud, sky, text and natureOne of the newer venues participating in 2nd Friday Art Night is the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.  While one thinks of The Rep as a performing arts venue (and it certainly is), the Rep has also long been a promoter of the visual arts.

Drop by The Rep and enjoy paintings by late Arkansas artist, Doris Williamson Mapes. Known for her brilliant use of color, Doris described herself as a mixed media artist, using watercolors, acrylic, pencil, ink, gouache, casein, pastel, crayons, etc.

She studied design and encaustic painting under Townsend Wolfe at the Arkansas Arts Center and advanced painting with Edwin Brewer in the Adrian Brewer Studio. In 1970, Mapes, along with four other artists, founded and incorporated the Mid-Southern Watercolorists (MSW) in Little Rock. Mapes was elected as the organization’s founding president and served until 1972.

Doris was a long-time supporter of The Rep. The collection hangs in her memory.

2nd Friday Art Night – Art and Live Music at CALS tonight

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The Central Arkansas Library System offers two locations at Library Square tonight for 2nd Friday Arts Night.

At the Bookstore at Library Square (formerly River Market Books & Gifts) the exhibit is Art Not Bombs collected works by artist Victor Wiley. It was curated by local film and event producer Mike Poe. Live music will be provided by Brasher/Morg & Raging Skulls.

Paintings by Terry Brewer: Nepal Maa Dui Barsa Base (Two Years in Nepal, 2008–2010) remains on display at the Galleries at Library Square (formerly Butler Center Galleries), with eclectic instrumental live composition duo Das Loop as the featured musicians. After a twenty-year career as a graphic artist, Terry Brewer made his first trip to Asia in 1998. While in Nepal, he began looking into volunteer opportunities, hoping to return someday to live, work, and explore. In 2008, he returned to Nepal as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity International and stayed over two years. In between work assignments and treks into the mountains, he set up a studio in Kathmandu and began an ongoing series of portraits and landscapes. The exhibition is on view in the Underground Gallery through March 30, 2019.