Category Archives: Visual Art

Tonight’s QQA Preservation Conversations: Fine Art Repair and Appraisal Workshop

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QQAJennifer Carman and Laura Bryan will be collaborating to discuss art repair and appraisal to coincide with the Antiques Roadshow making its way to Little Rock on July 25.
Jennifer Carman, of J. Carman, Inc., is an art appraiser and advisor and works on everything from pottery to paper. Jennifer helps with a variety of appraisal projects.
Laura Bryan, of Bryan and Devan conservation, works to conserve and rehabilitate artifacts that have seen years of wear or abuse.
Together these women will discuss conservation methodology and appraisal. The event will be hosted at historic Curran Hall. Beer and wine will be provided.
It will start at 5:30 pm.

Final weekend for 54th Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition at Arkansas Arts Center

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Pamette Goodlow, Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School, 10th Grade, Untitled, bleach and oil pastel.

Pamette Goodlow, Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School, 10th Grade, Untitled, bleach and oil pastel.

The Young Arkansas Artists exhibition is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  Works by student artists vary in size, media, style and subject matter. Some are whimsical, some are thought-provoking, some are introspective. But all show the caliber of artwork being created by Arkansas students from all over the state and from all sizes of schools.

The exhibition closes on Sunday, so this weekend is the last chance to see the 54th edition.  The Arts Center is open 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday.

Now in its sixth decade, this annual children’s art exhibition showcases artwork by students in kindergarten through 12th grade from across the state.

455 entries from 111 schools and programs across Arkansas were received. 106 works in a huge variety of media were juried by the Arkansas Art Educators.

Award juror Katherine Strauss selected a Best of Class and Honorable Mentions for each grade among other awards. Monetary awards are provided to each winner’s school. Each year, selections from the exhibition travel to schools and other venues throughout the state as part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s State Services program.

Get INSPIRED BY NATURE while indoors at Arkansas Arts Center

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AAC NatureThe Arkansas Arts Center offers a way to appreciate nature while still remaining in climate controlled settings.  The exhibit INSPIRED BY NATURE by David Paul Cook, Victoria Harvey and Catherine Rodgers, is on view through October 18 in the Museum School Gallery.

“We are pleased to host works by our very own Museum School instructors who work tirelessly to teach students of all ages and skill levels to become artists,” said Arkansas Arts Center executive director Todd Herman. “These faculty members created wonderful works of art by working in the open air – influenced by nature and the environment around them.”

David Paul Cook has been the Museum School’s Watercolor Landscape and Plein Air (outdoor) Instructor since the fall of 2002. He also works with beginning students on watercolor techniques and brush handling and helps more advanced students with landscape composition and design. David is an avid outdoor painter of Central Arkansas scenes, rendered in a realistic style. His colorful and unique sketchbook-journals have been recently featured in articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Maumelle Magazine.

Victoria Harvey is a landscape painter in the medium of oils on canvas. A juried member of Oil Painters of America and Landscape Artists International, her work is represented in many notable collections around the country and is shown in Artworks Gallery on Nantucket. She teaches Beginning Painting and Landscape Painting and is the coordinator for Plein Air Painters of Arkansas and resides in Little Rock and in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Catherine Rodgers attended summer workshops at the Arkansas Arts Center as a child. Her works are held in hundreds of private collections in Arkansas and across the United States. Recent exhibits include the55th Annual Delta Exhibition, the Inaugural Exhibit of the Mississippi River Museum and The Erudites Exhibit at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

57th Annual Delta Exhibition Winners Announced by Arkansas Arts Center

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arkartsThe Arkansas Arts Center, the state’s premiere center for visual and performing arts, announces awards for the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition, on view through September 20, 2015 in the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries.

“Each year, this exhbition  provides unique insight into the incredible work from artists in Arkansas and throughout the Delta region,” said Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center. “We’re excited to share this exhibition with the community and encourage everyone to take time to visit the Arts Center.”

Artists awarded in the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition include:

Grand Award

Mark Lewis of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his work titled, Under the Oak (Woodward Park)

Delta Awards

Lisa Krannichfeld of Little Rock, for her work titled, Shirt (in gold), dressed series

Neal Harrington of Russellville, for his work titled, Feather Signal

Honorable Mentions

Michael Preble of Hot Springs, for his work titled, Unintended Consequences

Robyn Horn of Little Rock, for her work titled, Sideways

Aaron Calvert of Arkadelphia, for his work titled, Giving Figure

John Salvest of Jonesboro, for his work titled, Cage A

Laura Terry of West Fork, for her work titled, Ozarks Landscape, Late Summer

David Underwood of Jefferson City, Tennessee, for his work titled, Abandonded Schoolhouse

 

Contemporaries Delta Award

Mark Lewis of Tulsa, for his work titled, Under the Oak (Woodward Park)

Contemporaries Honorable Mention

Neal Harrington of Russellville, for his work titled, Feather Signal

 

“Originality is difficult to come by, and I believe it is the result of the intelligence and sensitivity of the artist. I also believe good art can inspire, surprise, move and sometimes even shock people in a way that they might see the world in a different light,” said guest juror George Dombek. “There are a number of wonderful works of art in this exhibition, and I believe if observers will give serious and careful attention to them, there is opportunity for ample rewards.”

Guest juror George Dombek is an internationally acclaimed watercolorist and previous annual Delta Exhibition exhibitor and award winner. Through a blind jury process, Dombek selected 72 works by 68 artists to be featured out of 882 entires from 380 artists. Of the 68 artists selected, 48 are from Arkansas; in all, eight states are represented in the exhibition.

As one of the most anticipated Arkansas Arts Center exhibitions of the year, the 57th Annual Delta Exhibition provides a unique snapshot of the Delta region by showcasing innovative and provocative two-and three-dimensional works in all media. The exhibition represents the dynamic vision of the artists of the Mississippi Delta region, including Arkansas and surrounding states, and offers visitors a glimpse into the contemporary art scene.

The exhibition is sponsored by Mrs. Lisenne Rockefeller, Bourbon & Boots, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, Dianne and Bobby Tucker, Janet and Sam Alley and the Capital Hotel. The Grand Award is supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund. The exhibition is supported by the Andre Simon Memorial Trust in memory of everyone who has died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

More Recognition for Little Rock’s Creative Corridor

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PrintA plan to transform four neglected blocks of Main Street in downtown Little Rock into an arts district has earned yet more international recognition.  The University of Arkansas Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architect’s plan The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization for Little Rock has won Honorable Mention in Urban Design (Concept) of the International Awards 2015 sponsored by Architecture Podium.

The Creative Corridor retrofits a four-block segment of downtown Main Street through economic development catalyzed by the cultural arts rather than Main Street’s traditional retail base.  The goal is to structure an identity for the Creative Corridor rooted in a mixed-use work-live environment but sensitive to the historical context. The incremental approach employs three developmental phases to transform the corridor space into a downtown node. Planning and design for the Creative Corridor was funded by a 2011 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“This is yet another in a growing line of international, national and regional recognition for the Creative Corridor.  It is a testament to the outstanding design team at the UofA Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architect. I am grateful for their efforts on this project,” said Mayor Mark Stodola.

“I am also appreciative of the outstanding local effort to take this plan and execute it,” Mayor Stodola continued.  “I look forward to seeing the excitement of the arts organizations up and down Main Street with their creative talent literally spilling out on to the sidewalks.”

The Creative Corridor features elements such as marquees, green and low impact development elements, and an art installation made from street lamps of different eras from city neighborhoods.

The Creative Corridor has also received other honors, including a 2014 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, 2013 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. It also won a Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District and Corridor category in the 2013 Charter Awards, sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism, and it was short-listed for the 2013 World Architecture Festival Awards in the Future Projects – Masterplanning category.

On September 14, at 3:00pm, a ribbon cutting will take place on the Creative Corridor.

Celebrate the Arts Council’s Arkansas Living Treasures tonight at Historic Arkansas Museum

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2fan ham 0715Tonight’s 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum is a special event! In collaboration with the Arkansas Arts Council, a sister agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, it celebrates the work of those who have been designated Arkansas Living Treasures.

“Art. Function. Craft. The Life and Work of Arkansas Living Treasures” – See the works of Arkansas’s finest and most fascinating artists and artisans practicing, preserving and progressing traditional craft. Hear about their personal artistic journeys in a series of documentary shorts. This exhibition, and corresponding film series, is a collaboration of Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Arts Council, which gives the Arkansas Living Treasure Award to those who excel in the practice of a traditional craft.

Since 2002, the Arkansas Arts Council has recognized Arkansas Living Treasures, Arkansas artisans who excel in the practice of a traditional craft and who have passed the tradition on to the next generation. For the past four decades, Historic Arkansas Museum’s Arkansas Made has systematically documented, collected and preserved the work of Arkansas artisans who lived and worked in the state from the early 19th century to present day. In 2013, the Arkansas Arts Council and Historic Arkansas Museum collaborated to produce a series of short films that celebrate the lives and work of each Arkansas Living Treasure.

In addition, the evening will feature award-winning Arkansas fiddler,Clancey Ferguson. Historic Arkansas Museum’s Year of Arkansas Beer continues with Saddlebock Brewery of Springdale.

The festivities run from 5pm to 8pm.

Sculpture Vulture: Ted Schaal’s OPEN WINDOW

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schaal open windowThe newest sculptural installation in Riverfront Park is Ted Schaal’s Open Window.  The piece won the 2013 Sculpture in the River Market public art monument commission.

Ted Schaal graduated from Colorado State University, class of 1992, with a BFA concentrating on fiber arts and sculpture. He has been working as an artist and craftsman in Loveland since 1993. Ted chooses to produce his work in bronze and stainless steel so that his pieces will withstand the harshest of natural elements and should last for many generations.

Between 1993 and 2005 Ted’s work focused on functional designs in the form of boxes, treasuries and reliquaries. You will find mountain scenes, native flowers and Art Deco inspired designs embellishing the intricately carved exterior. Some special pieces have hand-woven tapestries adorning the interior walls. “I sculpt functional forms that are designed to enhance the everyday experiences of the user by creating a special and sometimes sacred interaction with the personalized contents of each piece.”

In 2004, he began using his corrugated texture to create strong geometric vessel forms. They are non-functional purely decorative objects for the home. The final compositions are reminiscent of artifacts from antiquity, designed to raise questions about their origins as well as their implied functions.

Recently, Ted has been exploring strong geometric forms in combination with a primitive corrugated texture, smooth and polished surfaces. The goal is an interesting juxtaposition of materials and surface textures. Moving away from the utilitarian boxes and non-functional vessels of his past, Ted’s new work is purely sculptural emphasizing strong horizontal balance, tension, and negative space. Larger forms frame and direct the viewer toward a focal point or focal space. “Functional objects have size limitations whereas sculpture does not.”