Category Archives: Visual Art

Artist David Bailin at today’s Legacies & Lunch

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Legacies & Lunch: David Bailin 
Wednesday, September 2, noon – 1:00 p.m. 
CALS Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street
David Bailin (work pictured above) is an artist who currently works primarily in drawing, but has worked previously in painting, writing, theater, and performance. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arkansas Arts Council.

At Legacies & Lunch, Bailin will discuss the artistic community he has found in Arkansas with artists Warren Criswell and Sammy Peters over the past thirty years. Their work has evolved, changed focus, and acquired new media and techniques, but has remained a central part of their lives, both individually and collectively.

Some results of those years of companionship are featured in the exhibition, Disparate Acts Redux: Bailin, Criswell, Peters, on view through Saturday, October 31 at Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Ave.

 Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council.  Bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.

Sculpture at the River Market accepting applications for 2016 Show and Sale

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Sculpture at the River MarketOn September 1, Sculpture at the River Market began accepting applications from artists for the 2016 Fine Art Sculpture Show & Sale.

The organizers have notified a comprehensive list of sculptors via email, posts on Facebook page, and their website.  However, they are want to cast as wide a net as possible.  If you know of any sculptors who would be interested in applying please forward this application link to them – https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=4338

Show Dates – April 22-24, 2016

Application Dates – September 1, 2015 – January 14, 2016

All show details are available for artists through the application portal, and the fee is just $50 – there are no other fees involved for artists so it is a great deal.

Sculpture Vulture: Casey G. Horn’s TRANQUILITY

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DSC_0658One of the newest sculptures in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden is Casey G. Horn’s Tranquility.  

Made of bronze and stainless steel, the inspiration for the piece was the Chinese word (character) 安 Ān: peaceful, content, safe.

As Horn says: You can derive a story from the composition of the character. It breaks down into two parts: ornamental roof and woman. Read in this way,  “a woman is at peace in a beautiful home.”

The curved shapes in Tranquility mimic the lines in some other nearby sculptures as well as the foliage in the park.  However, it is unlike any of the other sculptures. It both stands out and blends in with its surroundings.

Tranquility was purchased by the Sculpture at the River Market committee.

Dave Anderson’s ONE BLOCK at Christ Church

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IMG_0596In recognition of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock is showing a collection of Dave Anderson’s One Block photos.

Little Rock photographer Dave Anderson followed the reconstruction of a single block in New Orleans from 2006 to 2010. This delivers a powerful portrait of the storm’s ongoing physical and psychological impact on a neighborhood and its residents.

Using portraiture, still lifes and abstract images, Anderson’s photos document the evolution of both the street and its houses as residents literally rebuild their lives, exploring the very nature of community while testing its resilience. Anderson’s compassionate treatment of the neighborhood’s straitened financial circumstances and its courageous reconstruction has drawn comparisons to coverage of the Great Depression by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and other Farm Security Administration-funded photographers.

Seventy years later, between the devastation left by Katrina and the current housing crisis, the stability and permanence of the American home are once again in jeopardy, lending Anderson’s record a heightened, timely pertinence. One Block is an extension of Anderson’s optimistic belief that the good within each of us is what unites us, as well as his hope that this commonality will afford us the grace to both endure and emerge from our current turmoil.

Copies of Anderson’s book One Block are available for purchase at the church.

Sculpture Vulture: National Bow Tie Day

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DSC_0701Today is National Bow Tie Day.  Though there is not specifically a sculpture in Little Rock with a bow tie, one of the newest sculptures in Riverfront Park mimics the shape of a bow tie.  Valerie Jean Schafer’s Butterfly Banner evokes not only a butterfly but a bow tie.  However, the imagery goes beyond that.

This is drawn from a visual vocabulary inspired by Native American artifacts from prehistory. While a banner was originally a small stone or wood counterweight for the atlatl (a weapon predating the bow and arrow) this enlarged representation speaks of the beauty of Native American culture beyond the usual stereotypes. The sculpture embraces tradition, as it reveals Native Americans as inhabitants of the Americas far longer than most people believe. At the same time, the simplicity of the form evokes a sense of elegance with a decidedly contemporary feel.

Dean Kumpuris 2014It is fitting that it is located in Riverfront Park. The Trail of Tears went through the park as Native Americans were forcibly moved west.  It serves as a reminder of the heritage of Little Rock. Not all of the City’s past was glorious; but in remembering the past, it helps to look forward to a better future.

It is also appropriate to feature this sculpture today for another reason.  A driving force behind the placement of sculptures in Little Rock is bow tie clad City Director Dr. Dean Kumpuris.

Creative Corridor Banners Unveiled 

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The designs for the Main Street Creative Corridor banner competition were officially “unveiled” 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at the parking deck at 2nd and Main streets as artists Stephano and Virmarie DePoyster who created the winning works are introduced.
Also speaking were Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, Downtown Partnership Executive Director Gabe Holmstrom, and Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director Todd Herman.

Funding for the two outside banners and lighting for all three comes from the private foundation ArtPlace. Funding for the middle banner comes from the Little Rock Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Sculpture Vulture: National Dog Day

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Today is National Dog Day. In celebration of that, today we shine the spotlight on two canine sculptures in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden.

DSC_0710First is Dan Glanz’s Boris.  Commissioned in 2010 and unveiled in 2011, this is a likeness of Boris Kumpuris, the dog and companion of Mary and Dr. Dean Kumpuris.

Glanz captures the friendly and inquisitive nature of Boris in this work, which can be found in the Vogel Schwarz sculpture garden. Most weekends Boris can be seen with Dean as the two walk through Riverfront Park and the River Market. Boris explores and inspects the park along with Dean. Each year during the Sculpture at the River Market show, Boris visits with Dean and meets all the sculptors.

The sculpture was donated by longtime Kumpuris family friend Margaret Clark. She and her late husband Bill were two of the earliest supporters of sculpture along the Arkansas River. They donated another piece in honor of their grandchildren. A sculpture in memory of Bill was unveiled last year and stands in the wetlands park which bears his name.

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A few yards from Boris is Ken Newman’s Forever Ready.  It depicts a hunting dog waiting but poised to spring into action.  The sculpture was donated by the Sculpture at the River Market committee in 2009.