Tag Archives: UA Little Rock Art

Sculpture Vulture: Michael Warrick’s VISIONARY

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Today’s Sculpture Vulture features Michael Warrick’s Visionary. This bronze cast sculpture depicts a head with eyes closed. The sculpture is a permanent installation in the Bernice Garden on South Main Street.

The sculpture was created by Michael Warrick. It is a replica of a much larger piece he created for a sculpture garden in Changchun, China. That city is one of Little Rock’s Sister Cities.

Warrick is a professor in the UALR Art Department. His sculptures are in display throughout the US and in foreign countries.

This Thursday, September 20, the Bernice Garden will host an event which will feature the unveiling of the 2012 sculptures. (The garden features both permanent and temporary installations.). Six new sculptures will be unveiled. The chosen artists are : Mia Hall, Bryan Winfred Massey Sr., David O’brien, Tod “Switch” Swiecichowski, Steph Shinabetzy, and Jon M Van Horn.

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Sculpture Vulture: Kerrick Hartman’s PLACES OF THE HEART

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While the Sculpture Vulture usually features permanent public art installations, this week’s feature is one of the temporary installations at the Bernice Garden. One of the winners in the 2011 Sculpture Competition. Kerrick Hartman’s sculpture Places of the Heart is located at the west entrance to the Bernice Garden. The sculpture stands approximately four feet tall and is made of marble, steel and wood.

Here is his artist’s statement:

“I like to draw inspiration from the natural beauty of Arkansas with a focus on the small places tucked away that are sought out for a moment of quiet contemplation and introspection. It seems that with our stressed out and busy lives such places are harder to find and appreciate. These places of solitude are where we can let the interplay of ideas, emotions, and spirituality; shape our lives, our landscape, and our future.

20120812-152715.jpgThese are the places of the heart and the outwardly spiraling form suggests hope from spiritual and intellectual growth, and transitions into an undulating shape on the reverse side signifying and inward path of introspection and self-reflection. Where one seeks solitude is often as individualistic and unique as the people of Arkansas; and in a sense reflects the very nature of the Bernice Garden.

Hartman currently lives in Stuttgart and attends UALR working on a B.A. in Studio Art. Hh has previously worked as a scientist focusing in plant pathology with a PhD From North Carolina State University in 1996. It is his current desire and passion to create art on a full time basis and to share his creative skill through gallery exhibitions, workshops and community art experiences.

July 2nd Friday Art Night

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Once again, Friday the 13th will be lucky for patrons who venture out to explore 2nd Friday Art Night in downtown Little Rock.   It takes place from 5pm to 8pm and is free.  Several downtown galleries are open with special events and exhibits.  A free trolley runs between the various sites.

Here is a sampling of what can be found.

Historic Arkansas Museum (200 East Third Street) hosts the opening reception for BARBIE: The 11 1/2-inch American Icon, the newest exhibit in the Eclectic Collector series. There will be live music by Steve Bates and an ice cream tasting with Loblolly Creamery. Loblolly makes small batch ice cream, fizzy sodas and other treats from local organic ingredients.

Butler Center Galleries (401 President Clinton Avenue) will feature The Civil War in Arkansas as a part of the 150th commemoration of this pivotal event in American History.  Also still on display are Arkansas Arts Educators State Youth Art Show 2012 and Small Town: Portraits of a Disappearing America

Christ Episcopal Church (509 Scott Street) showcases artists from the Arkansas Pastel Society.  In addition artwork from students who are participating in a Christ Church summer youth arts program will also be on display.

studioMAIN (1423 South Main) opens its latest exhibition, Quality + Quantity: a Conversation on Modern Furniture. It exhibits furniture designed by local UALR Applied Design students and pairs it with several timeless furniture pieces that are being provided by Workplace Resource and Herman Miller.

Quapaw Quarter Association at Curran Hall (515 East Capitol Avenue) is showcasing LVB Designs…cuff bracelets by Linda Bradley, local designer and artist.  Each piece is custom made.  See and try on these unique cuffs in their many styles and designs.

Ark. Arts Center Conversation this Sunday

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The Arkansas Arts Center will present a “conversation” with Mia Hall as part of the Friends of Contemporary Craft annual lecture series on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 6 p.m. in the Arkansas Arts Center Lower Lobby.

Mia Hall is an artist and educator based in Little Rock, where she is heading the Furniture Design Department at UALR as well as producing one-of-a kind works that are exhibited locally and nationally. She works with both conceptual, self-narrative sculptural forms and formal sculptures based on observations in nature, as well as functional furniture with an interest in concrete.

Though born in Sweden, Hall studied and graduated from the San Diego State University with degrees in Applied Design and Furniture Design. She has taught workshops at Arrowmont, OCAC and Marc Adams
and has been an artist-in-residence at the Oregon College of Art in Portland, OR.

Tickets to attend the “conversation” are $15 for FOCC members and $20 for nonmembers.

A light dinner will be served. Reservations are required. Call 501-372-4000 or email FOCC@arkarts.com to make reservations.

Friends of Contemporary Craft are Arkansas Arts Center Members share an interest in contemporary craft media. To become an Arkansas Arts Center member and to join the FOCC, contact 501-372-4000 or visit http://www.arkarts.com.

Art of Architecture: William Morris and Arts & Craft Movement

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Tonight at the Arkansas Arts Center, the next installment of the Art of Architecture lecture series takes place.

Dr. Floyd Martin of UALR is discussing William Morris and Arts and Craft Movement. The lecture starts at 6pm in the Lecture Hall at the Arts Center.

William Morris, born in England in 1834, is long recognized as one of the major figures of the Arts and Craft Movement. A designer of textiles, wallpaper, furniture and books, Morris emphasized the importance of natural and organic forms in his work. Seeking inspiration from vernacular architecture and home furnishings, he schooled himself in the techniques and materials used in their construction.

Committed to making “aesthetically pleasing and well crafted things and making them available to as many people as possible”, Morris, had a profound influence on building and design. Though not an architect himself, working in collaboration with with architect Philip Webb, he played a major role in the design of his own home, known as the The Red House, a structure built in 1860 and now part of the British National Trust. Standen, another property with which Morris was associated, is a legacy of the Arts and Crafts movement and, too, part of the Trust.

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Floyd Martin, the speaker, is Professor of Art History at UALR where he has taught since 1982. He has degrees in art history from Carleton College (BA), the University of Iowa (MA), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (PhD).

Material for this lecture on William Morris was developed while Martin was on sabbatical from UALR during the spring of 2010, and able to visit the Red House for the first time, and return to Standen, a favorite country house from previous trips. In November he began a three year term as President of the Southeastern College Art Conference, an organization of college and university studio artists, art historians, and art educators, that is the second largest national organization of its type.

Arts & Humanities Month: UALR Art Department

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The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Department maintains three galleries in the Fine Arts building that showcase varied works from visiting artists, traveling exhibitions, competitions, faculty work, and student work. Galleries I and II are located on the first floor of the art building and Gallery III is located on the second floor.

During the Fall and Springs semesters, the galleries are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, Saturday from 10am to 1pm and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm. Currently in the galleries are: Illustrators:53 traveling exhibition from the Society of Illustrators and Senior exhibitions.   Brad Cushman is director of the galleries.

Dr. Win Bruhl is the Art Department head.  The department offers degrees in three tracks – fine art (studio art), applied design and art education.  The fine art track offers specialization in drawing, painting, graphic design, illustration, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The applied design track offers emphasis areas in furniture design, metals and ceramics. The art education track prepares students for licensure to teach art at the kindergarten through secondary school level as well as allowing these students to develop a BFA studio or applied design emphasis.

The department maintains a Visual Resources Collection which provides access to a teaching collection of approximately 90,000 slides, a growing number of digital images, and related information resources created to support the UALR Art Department faculty and students. Assistance with classroom presentations and the digital image databases is available to faculty and students by contacting the VRC to arrange an appointment.

Another program of the department is the artWORKS Artist Workshop Series which provides a learning community dedicated to creativity and growth through the making and understanding of the visual arts. It is a hands-on learning experience for local, regional, and national artists and artisans, students, and art educators.