- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Clifton named interim dean of ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 17:43:45 +0000

Professor Tom Clifton has been named the interim dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Clifton, chair of the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art and Design and a professor of art who specializes in illustration, was selected based on recommendations from the chairs of the departments within the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences and his excellent record of service with the university, said Dr. Zulma Toro, interim chancellor of ��Vlog��ýLR. Clifton led efforts that resulted in a $20.3 million gift, the second largest gift in ��Vlog��ýLR’s history, for the design and construction of a new visual arts building. The Windgate Center of Art and Design, a contemporary educational facility that will integrate ��Vlog��ýLR’s Applied Design, Art History, and Studio Arts classes, is scheduled to open at ��Vlog��ýLR in 2018. “The Windgate Foundation has worked with us since 1995 and has been a great supporter of ��Vlog��ýLR for more than 20 years,” he said. is also one of the primary architects of a new degree program, the Bachelor of Arts in web design and development. The program is interdisciplinary, and includes information science, mass communications, and rhetoric and writing courses. “During the selection process, it was clear that Professor Clifton has the support of colleagues from different areas in the college, and his interpersonal skills and understanding of higher education in the 21st century have been an asset to his department, college and our university,” Toro said. Clifton received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Minnesota State University and a Master of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. He is a Fulbright scholar who studied the art and culture of Egypt at in Cairo, Egypt. He began his career as an illustrator and graphic designer in 1989. As an artist, Clifton enjoys merging traditional art with new technology. Some of his favorite lessons include teaching students how to incorporate laser etching and 3D printing into art. “My parents were business people, entrepreneurs. To me, commercial art was where I was coming from,” Clifton said. “I really enjoyed painting and drawing, and graphic design was an extension of that. It was a combination of making a living and also enjoying what I was doing — and doing what I was good at.” Clifton began his career in higher education as an assistant professor of art at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He joined ��Vlog��ýLR as an assistant professor of art in 2000 and was promoted to associate professor in 2005. In 2013, Clifton became a full professor and the chair of the Department of Art and Design. “The biggest success of my career has been the opportunity to see my work published, working with students and seeing their successes,” he said. “I have been teaching since 1993, and have seen my students go out in the world and become successful artists and entrepreneurs.” Clifton and his wife, Suzanne, live in Redfield and are the proud parents of twins. Their daughter, Mariah, is an occupational therapist, while their son, Ian, is pursuing a doctoral degree in biology. The experience of watching his children attend college has better prepared Clifton to be a leader in higher education. “My kids have gone through college, and I have had the opportunity to see their struggles as they earned their degrees,” he said. “That has given me a better understanding of what a student goes through. As a dean, I want to have a positive impact by addressing student struggles and distractions before they’re overwhelming.” A national search to hire a permanent dean for the ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences will be conducted at a later date.

Print shop supervisor finds photography success at ��Vlog��ýLR

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:23:32 +0000

By day, Ted Grimmett works as the friendly print shop supervisor who has been at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Printing Services since 2003. By night, Grimmett has been taking courses for more than a decade to fulfill a lifelong dream of earning a master’s degree. At 61, he will realize his dream as he graduates with a Master of Arts degree from ��Vlog��ýLR in August. “This institution made this possible,” Grimmett said. “I had to take quite a bit of undergraduate classes in order to get qualified to apply to graduate school, so I have been doing this a long time. I’m a goal-oriented person, and this was my goal. I think this is the only place I could have accomplished this, so I give a lot of credit to ��Vlog��ýLR.” In addition to �Ұ��ٳ�’s graduation, the ��Vlog��ýLR Art Gallery will host an exhibit featuring his photography and host a reception in his honor from 4-6 p.m. Friday, July 15. The exhibit, “Surface Tension,” will be on display July 5-28 in Gallery II in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. The work represents �Ұ��ٳ�’s thesis exhibition for his master’s degree. Grimmett photographs objects and sites that exhibit transparent, translucent, and reflective surface properties. These images provoke questions about the tension between surfaces, how they interact to reveal and withhold detail, and how they appear to the eye.

Finding a love of photography

Although he has been interested in photography since the 1970s, Grimmett wasn’t sure he wanted to study the subject. “I shopped around, and I considered being a history major. I loved history, but I also enjoyed photography classes,” he said. Grimmett took up photography in 2007 after enrolling in a class in large format photography from Gary Cawood, a ��Vlog��ýLR art professor who has since retired. “Gary Cawood saw something in what I was doing,” Grimmett said. “He felt like I needed to keep pushing and keep working. He gave me a lot of helpful criticism.” In the years since that first class, �Ұ��ٳ�’s photographs have been featured multiple times in the Delta Art Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center. “I found a family over there in the art department,” he said. “It might be a little dysfunctional, but it’s a family with all the good and bad that comes with family.”

Finding beauty in photography

Grimmett searches far and wide to find the best locations for his photographs. A majority of his photographs are taken within one mile of his Little Rock home. “I have spent a lot of time under local bridges and looking for surface tension that usually has to do with water and reflective surfaces. There are a lot of windows, and glass, reflective surfaces in my photographs,” he said. He has also taken numerous photographs at the Arkansas Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Booneville, Arkansas, which treated more than 70,000 Arkansans. The site holds personal meaning for Grimmett. “My mother was a patient there back in the 1950s. That’s the main reason I was interested in the site,” Grimmett said. “I feel like these are places and objects that I have found that are meaningful to me.” The gallery is located in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977.

��Vlog��ýLR hosts Ted Grimmett photography exhibit

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:42:37 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery will host an exhibit featuring the photography of Ted Grimmett. The exhibit, “Surface Tension,” will be on display July 5-28 in Gallery II in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. The work represents �Ұ��ٳ�’s thesis exhibition for his Master of Art degree from ��Vlog��ýLR. A reception for Grimmett, ��Vlog��ýLR print shop supervisor, will be held Friday, July 15, from 4-6 p.m. Grimmett photographs objects and sites that exhibit transparent, translucent, and reflective surface properties. These images provoke questions about the tension between surfaces, how they interact to reveal and withhold detail, and how they present to the eye. The artist thinks of these objects as artifacts found in situ and his photographs as affirmations of a constructed, found, and realized world that is often unseen or unrecognized. The gallery is also holding an exhibit featuring the artwork and artifacts of the nomadic Bedouin people of Saudi Arabia. The exhibit, “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin,” is on display until Aug. 5. The gallery is located in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977. In the upper right photo, Ted Grimmett’s photograph, “Mirror Glass Construction,” is shown.

��Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 19:25:15 +0000

Eight artists with ties to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Art represent more than a quarter of the 30 artists selected for one of the region’s most prestigious art exhibitions. The 58th Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center includes 52 artistic works selected by the show’s juror, Liz Garvey, co-founder and owner of Garvey-Simon Art Access, Inc. Nearly 460 artists applied, and more than 1,000 entries were submitted. The is on display at the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries until Aug. 28. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The exhibition began in 1958 to feature contemporary artists from Arkansas and bordering states. It has grown to encompass works in all media, showcasing the dynamic vision and traditions of artists of the Mississippi Delta region. David Bailin, a former adjunct professor of drawing and painting in the ��Vlog��ýLR art department was the winner of the Delta Award and a $750 prize for his charcoal, pastel, and coffee piece, “Lamp.”

David Bailin

Other art department faculty members in the show include Mia Hall, an associate professor of furniture design, Win Bruhl, a professor emeritus of drawing and printmaking, Heidi Hogden, a visiting professor of painting, and Joli Livaudais, an assistant professor of photography. Livaudais, who has two pieces in the exhibition, said it was an honor for her work to be displayed in the prestigious show. “The series of work that these two pieces come from is inspired by cycles and patterns in nature, and my personal meditations on science, spirituality, and human limitations,” Livaudais said. “I enjoy the Delta Exhibition because it’s a wonderful opportunity to see the strong artwork being made by the artists in our region, and it’s great to have my pieces seen in such a beautiful venue.” In addition to ��Vlog��ýLR professors, Anne Greenwood, a ��Vlog��ýLR art student from Hot Springs, Arkansas, also has two pieces in the show. Two alumni – Laura Raborn, a 2014 graduate with a master’s degree in art, and Nathaniel Roe, a 2015 graduate with a master’s degree in art — also are featured. “I was thrilled to have so many of our faculty and students chosen to participate in the exhibition,” said Tom Clifton, chair of the art department. “Considering the standing of the Delta Exhibition and its reach, it’s an honor to be so well represented. I believe it speaks to the quality of education available to our students and the positive impact that our presence has on the region.” These talented ��Vlog��ýLR faculty members and students are looking forward to teaching and learning in the new visual arts building, which is scheduled to open in early 2018. The state-of-the-art building will be funded by a $20.3 million grant, the second largest gift in ��Vlog��ýLR’s history, from the Trustees of the Windgate Charitable Foundation. The new facility, located at 28th Street and East Campus Drive, will integrate ��Vlog��ýLR’s Applied Design, Art History, Art Education, and Studio Art classes into a facility that promotes collaboration and creativity between students, faculty, and guests under one roof. In order to attract and retain the region’s best and brightest art students, a scholarship campaign is underway to help art students who will benefit from learning and collaborating at the new visual arts building. “The new visual arts building will give our faculty, who have helped design it, the best possible spaces for instruction in all media,” said Joseph Lampo, director of development and external relations for the ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences. “Our focus is the students who will be taught in these spaces by our award-winning faculty, and this scholarship campaign is critical to bringing the best art students here.” For more information on the exhibition, visit Delta Exhibition’s. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ýLR artist Mia Hall stands next to her artwork with her daughter, Fiona Clemmons.

��Vlog��ýLR to host exhibition on nomadic Bedouin people

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 15:08:03 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Gallery will host an exhibition featuring artwork and artifacts from the nomadic Bedouin people of Saudi Arabia. The exhibition, “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin,” will be on display from June 16 to Aug. 5 in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. A second exhibit will feature the master’s thesis exhibition of Ted Grimmett. His photography will be on display in Gallery II from July 5-28. The nomadic people occupying the deserts of the Middle East are known as the Bedouin. The Saudi Arabian Bedouin are iconic nomads immortalized in films such as “Lawrence of Arabia.” They have captured the imagination of the Western world since their first contact with Europeans during Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in the 18th century. Organized through ExhibitsUSA and Mid-America Arts Alliance, the exhibition includes artworks and artifacts, from elaborately embroidered textiles and embellished metalwork to ceremonial coffee accoutrements and incense burners. The exhibition focuses on aspects of traditional Bedouin life that survive today. Visitors to the exhibition will learn how Bedouin arts and crafts frequently bridge the gap between aesthetic and utilitarian purposes, as well as recognize the unique tenacity of Bedouin traditions in an ever-changing political, social, and environmental landscape. Bedouin crafts require the knowledge of natural environment that has developed over the centuries. Animals are bred not only for desert survival, but also for their hair, skin, hoof, and bone, while other natural materials such as clay and acacia wood are used for everything from pottery to writing instruments. Traditional arts of the Bedouin reveal the Bedouin to be artists with a legacy of incredible work, not widely known outside their own cultures. The featured jewelry shows each artist’s use of obscure techniques to produce intricate pieces. Bedouin weaving, still crafted on a stick loom, demonstrates ancient knowledge of natural dyes and fibers, and traditional patterns. The women who created textiles used native stitches, not known outside the Bedouin world, to embroider meaning into the objects. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Amber Clifford-Napoleone, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Central Missouri. The exhibition came from the Nance Collection, which is owned and housed by the McClure Archives and the University Museum at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The gallery is located in the ��Vlog��ýLR Fine Arts Building. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For more information, contact Gallery Director Brad Cushman at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977. In the upper right photo, a face mask with cotton, silver beads, glass beads, coins, and leather is shown from the “Traditional Arts of the Bedouin” exhibition.

Art exhibit exploring pro wrestling open until March 3

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 22:14:05 +0000

A new exhibit that opened Jan. 14 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a nod to professional wrestlers. “Jobbers, Heels, and Faces” by Robert McCann will be on display in Gallery I of the Fine Arts Building until March 3. It features monumental paintings with popular pro-wrestlers from the past and the present as the central motif. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. McCann will present a guest lecture at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, in Room 161 of the Fine Arts Building. In his lecture, McCann will address the subject of his art, professional wrestlers, and their characterization.

“Hands Across America” oil on linen (2014)

McCann’s work stages wrestlers in out-of-context or discontinuous relationships, intimately handling such ideas as identity or stereotype while visually engaging with less nameable pursuits like the relation of bodies in space in a simultaneous moment. According to McCann, performers portray characters that are frequently based on their actual personalities, self-image, or heritage. What is acknowledged to be artificial is acted out with real physical and psychological consequences, always under a certain pall of inevitability. McCann lives and works in East Lansing, Mich., where he is an associate professor and head of the Foundations Area in the art department of Michigan State University. Recent venues of exhibition include the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery, the Ormond Memorial Art Museum in Ormond Beach, Florida, and the Soo Visual Art Center in Minneapolis. ��Vlog��ýLR Galleries are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays. All exhibitions and lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Brad Cushman, gallery director, at becushman@ualr.edu or 501.569.8977.

��Vlog��ýLR to celebrate the arts with 6×6 Holiday Art Sale

Shanna Fitzgerald — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 16:21:20 +0000

After years of success with two signature University of Arkansas at Little Rock events, Friends of the Arts (FOA) and the Department of Art will combine forces to present the 6×6 Holiday Art Sale Preview and Reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, in the ��Vlog��ýLR Applied Design Studio. The studio is located in Suite 300 of University Plaza on the corner of University and Asher avenues. For five years, FOA has hosted 6×6, a silent auction and reception that connects talented artists to art lovers. Likewise, the annual ��Vlog��ýLR Holiday Art Sale has offered original artwork for sale from young artists around the holiday season. This year, patrons of 6×6 will enjoy both events in one. General Admission is $35, $25 for ��Vlog��ýLR faculty and staff, and $15 for students. Admission for the 6×6 Holiday Art Sale includes a reception, with heavy hors d’oeuvres and wine, and access to both the silent auction and the special preview of ��Vlog��ýLR’s annual Holiday Art Sale. True to 6×6 fashion, the night will also include live musical entertainment and art demonstrations. Tickets can be purchased in advance online here, by calling 501.690.2407 or at the door the day of the event. Art in various mediums will be available for purchase, including paintings, photographs, drawings, prints, pottery, sculpture, wood objects, furniture, jewelry, and fiber pieces from both established and up-and-coming artists. The piece displayed on this year’s 6×6 promotional materials is an excellent example of the artistic talent to be featured. “No Green Thumb Needed,” is a cast sterling silver, fabricated copper, brass, gold leaf piece created by ��Vlog��ýLR student, Douglas Frank. Proceeds from 6X6 benefit the fine arts programs at ��Vlog��ýLR. Friends of the Arts has supported art programs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for more than 27 years. An organization with an incredible passion for the arts, FOA is dedicated to building bridges with the community while funding programs and scholarships that benefit hundreds of local student artists. Art not sold during the preview sale will be available for purchase Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4 and 5, at the public Holiday Art Sale. For information, contact Jo Jones at bjjones@ualr.edu or 501.690.2407. See our list of 2015 sponsors at 6×6 Sponsors.

��Vlog��ýLR alumna works on MTV VMAs, nominated for Streamy

Shanna Fitzgerald — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:20:32 +0000

Those who caught this year’s MTV Video Music Awards — or, more specifically, who were plugged into its social media feeds — just might have recognized the work of a talented local artist. Cyrene Quiamco, a 26-year-old Little Rock resident and University of Arkansas at Little Rock graduate, continues to gain national attention for her cutting-edge Snapchat art. So, while musicians Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj took the stage Aug. 30 during the worldwide MTV broadcast, Quiamco worked behind the scenes, promoting the event. It was the latest high-profile job for Quiamco, a former Donaghey Scholar, who also has done social media work for well-known brands such as Disney, Bud Light, Burger King, and UNICEF. Quiamco, who goes by the social media handle Cyrene-Q, was also one of five people . (Spoiler alert: Don’t click on the preceding link if you don’t want to know the winners). Photos and video footage from the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, courtesy of Quiamco:

House of cards showcases talent of ��Vlog��ýLR design students

Shanna Fitzgerald — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 20:53:04 +0000

Visitors to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus were in for a surprise this summer. As they walked near the front lawn of the Fine Arts Building in recent weeks, pedestrians were greeted by a 15-foot house of cards sculpture that’s not quite as shaky as the name suggests. A large pile of cardboard fruit and a clothesline with clothing outlines also adorn the property. Participants in 3-D Design — one of four summer intensive workshops offered by the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Art — provided those new campus photo opportunities. The workshop, led by instructor Mia Hall, focused on 3-D art elements and principles. As part of the workshop’s final assignment, each student brought a proposal for a project the class could build and install within a week. It needed to have a big visual impact, be safe for outdoor installation, and cost no more than $300, said Hall, a ��Vlog��ýLR associate professor of art.

��Vlog��ýLR students work on a 3-D sculpture, a house of cards on Friday, July 17, 2015.

When it came time to choose, participants voted on Justin Lamb’s card construction proposal.

A past project of Mia Hall’s 3-D design summer workshop

To complete the sculpture in a short amount of time, eight students divided up the tasks, including laser cutting stencils, spray-painting cards, and conducting material stress tests. Card faces were carefully hand painted. The results of the students’ work can be viewed for about another month. In the past, Hall’s workshop groups created temporary attractions such as a giant zombie emerging from the Fine Arts lawn and transparent human figures that greeted students along Campus Drive. ��Vlog��ýLR’s art department, which is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees in art history, studio art, and art education.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Clifton named interim dean of ����Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences

Print shop supervisor finds photography success at ����Vlog��ýLR

����Vlog��ýLR hosts Ted Grimmett photography exhibit

����Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

����Vlog��ýLR to host exhibition on nomadic Bedouin people