- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/arkansas-women-to-watch/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:19:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Women to Watch at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock: Joli Livaudais /news-archive/2021/03/08/women-to-watch-joli-livaudais/ Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:19:23 +0000 /news/?p=78516 ... Women to Watch at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock: Joli Livaudais]]> In celebration of Women鈥檚 History Month, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is profiling women in leadership positions who are making a difference at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and in the community. The first Woman to Watch at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock of 2021 is Joli Livaudais, associate professor of photography and graduate coordinator for the Department of Art and Design.听 Tell us about yourself? I started out my education in the field of experimental psychology, but although I love psychology I found I was unhappy unless I was able to be creative. I earned my MS in psychology, but instead of continuing on to a Ph.D. I changed gears and decided to pursue art, and photography in particular. I鈥檝e worked as a commercial photographer in Dallas, Texas, and Monroe, Louisiana. I had a studio and an art gallery in the downtown Monroe area for seven years, but I knew I really wanted to pursue fine art photography and teaching. I went back to school to get my MFA at Louisiana Tech University and graduated in 2013. I started working at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2014. What are your job duties at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock? I teach the photography classes in the department, which is my primary responsibility. I also serve as the graduate coordinator for the Art and Design department. We have a Master of Art degree with emphases in art history and visual art. Although the MA has been around for many years, we restructured it in 2018, so in many ways it鈥檚 a fledgling program. I am also the director for the Focus Gallery, which is a small gallery space in the art building. We bring in a new exhibition every 4 – 6 weeks, which is hard work but a lot of fun. I enjoy being able to work with other artists, and it鈥檚 great for the students to see the artwork, and the shows are free and open to everyone. Much of my personal artwork is not what most would call traditional photography. Historical photographic processes are one aspect of听 alternative photographic methods, which includes not only methods used before commercially made film was invented, but also some types of printmaking processes, hand-coloring photos, or creating photo sculptures and installations. It lets you be very hands-on in photography. We gained many incredible advantages when photography went digital, and I love to teach digital photography, but we did lose much of the hands-on craft that was part of working in the darkroom. It鈥檚 fun to teach students the older methods. There are always a percentage of my students that fall in love with it. For several years, you and your photography students have run a popular annual fundraising event where you take professional photos of dogs. How did the Puppy Mugs fundraiser get started? Puppy Mugs is a dog portrait fundraiser put on by the students, faculty, and alumni from the photo program. For the past six years, we have held the fundraiser when we teach the studio lighting class. It is a great opportunity for the photography students to use what they鈥檝e learned, and it鈥檚 always been a really fun day, with dogs and their people filling the Art and Design department for a few hours of fun. Proceeds from the fundraiser have been used to purchase photography equipment for student use, such as new strobe equipment for the Photographic Lighting class and new film cameras for the View Camera course. This year, we had to cancel Puppy Mugs due to pandemic safety precautions.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is offering a chance for man鈥檚 best friend to steal the spotlight during the K-9 photo shoot on Saturday, March 30.

A photo taken at a Puppy Mugs event.

What inspired you to want to be an artist? I鈥檝e always been a creative person and dabbled in art, but as a young person I never had confidence in my abilities to think I could 鈥渂e an artist.鈥 I tell people I tried everything else first, including the military, psychology, and commercial photography. None of that satisfied me. I needed to do fine art to be happy, and I felt that teaching was a great fit, and it wasn鈥檛 until I accepted that and had faith in it that things came together for me. How did you get involved in the 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch鈥 art exhibit? There is a biennial international exhibition at Washington D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts known as Women to Watch. They have a different theme for every Women to Watch exhibition. For 2020, the theme was paper, and the show was titled 鈥淧aper Routes.鈥 The Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts asked Allison Glenn, associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges, to curate and nominate a list of Arkansas Women for the national show. I was honored to have one of my pieces selected to show in D.C. in 2020. For 2021, all four of the artists that Allison selected will tour the state together. Being in the D.C. show is the most exciting thing that has happened to me professionally, but I am thrilled about the Arkansas tour because I can travel to those venues to install my artwork personally, which is important because of the nature of the pieces. The exhibit that made it in the D.C. show is my installation of the origami beetles folded from photographs called 鈥淎ll That I Love.鈥 For the state show, I am showing a second installation, which is paper grass blades that come out of the wall, also folded from photographs. I worked on them for a couple years. As soon as they took my information to nominate me for the national exhibit, I started working as if I had gotten it. I was on a really rigorous folding schedule for the past two years. I folded over 1,400 beetles and 900 pieces of grass. It was over 2,000 hours of work to do the beetles, and the grass blades takes 45 minutes each. My hands were always busy. Some people knit, but for the past two years, I was always folding beetles and grass blades.
Joli Livaudais' installation "Imperata Grassland"

Joli Livaudais’ installation “Imperata Grassland”

What鈥檚 next in your professional career? I am really looking forward to my upcoming OCDA, or what many call a sabbatical. I submitted a proposal for a new body of artwork, and it was approved for Fall of this year. The project involves microscopic photography, and I will use a layered combination of historical photographic printing processes, printmaking, and hand-coloring. It鈥檚 an exciting blend of art and science, and I am eager to get to work on it.听 What woman has inspired you the most and why? Although many women artists have inspired me with their talent, the person who has inspired me the most in my creative career is Jes Schrom. Jes was photo faculty at Louisiana Tech University when I was a graduate student, and she was one of my graduate committee members. Not only did she teach me to love historical and alternative photography, which has become my primary form of art making, she also helped me find the meaning in my artwork and has become my role model for what it means to be a great teacher and mentor.听 What advice would you give to the next generation of women artists? The best advice I can give anyone is to be persistent and don鈥檛 give up. I think every field is competitive. If you want to be one of the best, it will be challenging no matter what field you are in. The ones who succeed are the ones you don鈥檛 quit. You have to decide that is what you want, and go for it.听 How have you adapted to life during COVID-19? I miss being with my students in the classroom. We鈥檝e been careful and diligent with everyone鈥檚 safety. We鈥檝e split our classes into groups, so we can meet with fewer people in the space. I鈥檝e learned how to do YouTube videos and online demos. I miss being with my students and helping them on the fly. There is so much of what we do that is demo based and being able to mentor students is important. With photography, I鈥檓 lucky. Photography has a digital aspect that I can use, regardless of whether I am teaching online or in person.]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to hold artist talks in February /news-archive/2021/02/11/ua-little-rock-to-hold-artist-talks-in-february/ Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:17:52 +0000 /news/?p=78341 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to hold artist talks in February]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will hold three virtual artist talks during February to celebrate its spring 2021 art exhibits.听 The first artist talk begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12. Susannah Schreckhise, a multidisciplinary visual artist, will discuss her work in the 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes鈥 exhibit. Additionally, Brad Cushman, director of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Art Gallery, will discuss the work and artists featured in the 鈥淎rkansas Women from the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Permanent Collection鈥 exhibit. The second artist talk will feature John Seed, a professor of art and art history at Mt. San Jacinto College, who will give his talk 鈥淒isrupted Realism,鈥 Friday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. is also a writer who has written about art and artists for Arts of Asia, Art Ltd., Catamaran, Harvard Magazine, International Artist, HuffPost, and Poets and Artists. The final February artist talk will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. The event will feature Joli Livaudais, professor of photography at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, and Kim Brewer, an artist in Little Rock, who will discuss their work in the 鈥Arkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes鈥 exhibit. The artist talks will be held via Zoom and are part of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock artWORKS program. To register, visit the following websites: Feb. 12 鈥 Feb. 19 鈥 Feb. 26 鈥]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock opens 3 new exhibits featuring Arkansas Women to Watch, Faculty Biennial Exhibition /news-archive/2021/01/21/spring-art-exhibits/ Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:56:07 +0000 /news/?p=78185 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock opens 3 new exhibits featuring Arkansas Women to Watch, Faculty Biennial Exhibition]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery will open the new year with three new exhibits featuring Arkansas female artists to watch and the works of faculty members of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Department of Art and Design.听 The Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts presents their 5th exhibition of 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes.鈥 The traveling exhibit will be at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock from Jan. 29 to March 12 in the Brad Cushman Gallery on Level Two in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Windgate Center of Art and Design. Joli Livaudais, associate professor of photography at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, represented Arkansas in this highly regarded biennial 鈥淲omen to Watch鈥 exhibit in Washington, D.C. in 2020. The exhibit on campus features Livaudais along with fellow Arkansas women artists, including Kim Brewer, Linda Nguyen Lopez, and Suzannah Schreckhise. Allison Glenn of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art serves as the exhibit鈥檚 guest curator. The exhibit will feature Livaudais鈥 installation, 鈥淎ll That I Love,鈥 which consists of 1,500 origami paper beetles of varying sizes made of aluminum, pigment ink, resin, and mulberry paper that will be installed floor to ceiling by the artist. 鈥淚 am a professor of photography, so each of those beetles is folded from a photograph,鈥 Livaudais said. 鈥淭he idea is that each image captures a special moment of beauty, something that you care about deeply. That鈥檚 why the installation is called 鈥楢ll That I Love.鈥 Some of the images are recruited from other artists. When people send me images, it鈥檚 of things they love, like their kids.鈥 As a compliment to the traveling 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch鈥 exhibit, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock will also host an exhibit of 鈥淎rkansas Women from the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Permanent Collection.鈥 The exhibit will be open from Jan. 29 to March 12 in the Brad Cushman Gallery Annex in the Windgate Center. The featured artists in the exhibit include Laura Carenbauer, Amy Edgington, Dorothy Hinson, Robyn Horn, Leslie Garrett, Latoya Hobbs, Delita Martin, Helen Phillips, Emily Shiell, Dominique Simons, Melissa Weiss, Renee Williams, and Sally A. Williams. Additionally, the Faculty Biennial Exhibition, which features work created by the faculty in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Department of Art and Design, will be held Jan. 24 to March 6 in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery on Level One in the Windgate Center. The artists in the Faculty Biennial Exhibition include Robert Bean, Win Bruhl, Kevin Cates, Tom Clifton, Jeremy Couch, Brad Cushman, Ben Dory, Dusty Higgins, Joli Livaudais, Sasha Mirzoyan, Peter Scheidt, Ricky Sikes, Chassidy Sirratt, Rachel Spencer, Michael Warrick, and Kensuke Yamada. All of the exhibits will be available virtually through the exhibit website听 at the. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patrons may call or email to confirm a visit to campus to view the exhibitions. For more information, contact the main office at 501-916-3182 or email Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu. The upper right photograph is one of the works displayed in the 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch: Paper Routes,” exhibit: “Imperata Grassland” by Joli Livaudais.]]> 糖心Vlog传媒LR to host 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch鈥 /news-archive/2016/09/07/arkansas-women-to-watch/ Wed, 07 Sep 2016 13:47:44 +0000 /news/?p=65023 ... 糖心Vlog传媒LR to host 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch鈥]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host the artwork of four emerging and mid-career female artists from Arkansas whose pieces are featured in a statewide tour.听 鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch: Organic Matters鈥 is the fourth biennial tour of work by Arkansas women. The competitive exhibit is sponsored by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. 听 The 糖心Vlog传媒LR Art Gallery will display the exhibit from Sept. 8 to Oct. 20 in the Maners/Pappas Gallery and Gallery III in the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building. Artists include Sandra Luckett, of Conway, Katherine Rutter, formerly of Little Rock, Dawn Holder, of Clarksville, and Melissa Wilkinson, of Bono. A reception will be held for the artists at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building. The reception will also honor Brian McCarty, an internationally exhibited artist and toy industry veteran whose photographs are on display in the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Art Gallery from Sept. 1 to Oct. 20. Three of the Arkansas Women to Watch artists will give guest lectures at 糖心Vlog传媒LR during the exhibit, including:
  • Melissa Wilkinson, 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building Room 157
  • Dawn Holder, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building Room 157
  • Sandra Luckett, 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building Room 157
The is a co-sponsor of the reception. The event will be held during in observance of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.
Melissa Wilkinson's 2014 watercolor "Man Eater."

Melissa Wilkinson’s 2014 watercolor “Man Eater”

Curator Courtney Taylor canvassed the state of Arkansas to select four contemporary female artists working with imagery and materials taken from the natural world. Their work includes mixed media and photographic installations, mixed-media drawings, and watercolor paintings. Historically, society encouraged female artists to take the natural world as their subject. Rather than narrative art, which was thought to require invention and imagination beyond women鈥檚 capabilities, subjects such as botanical drawings, still-life paintings, and images of animals 鈥 merely requiring the powers of observation 鈥 were deemed suitable. The theme of 鈥淥rganic Matters鈥 illuminates how contemporary artists re-contextualize images in nature to reflect upon the themes of sexuality, gender politics, and the abstract to redefine emerging relationships between women, nature, and art. The 糖心Vlog传媒LR Art Gallery is located in the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Fine Arts Building and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Beginning Sept. 10, the gallery will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, contact 糖心Vlog传媒LR Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977. In the upper right photo,听Dawn Holder’s “Once Upon a Time in the Forest of I鈥檓 Not Sweet Enough” is a featured work in the听鈥淎rkansas Women to Watch: Organic Matters鈥 biennial tour of work by Arkansas women.]]>